Star Wars: Shadows of the Force
by Liquid
Summary: In the time of The Great Sith War against Exar Kun, a young Padawan named Becca Antilles finds herself making strange alliances as she tracks down the Force Witch that murdered her Master. But this quest for revenge is only the beginning of her story.
1. Chapter 1 Prisoner Escort

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter One: Prisoner Escort**

 _A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…_

 _STAR WARS_

 _SHADOWS OF THE FORCE_

 _It is a troubling time for the galaxy. Having become accustomed to thousands of years of peace stemming from the end of The Great Hyperspace War, the Old Republic has found itself threatened once again. Attacking without warning, and appearing seemingly out of nowhere, the Dark Lord Exar Kun and his apprentice, Ulic Qel Droma, lead a new Sith Empire in an effort to crush all resistance._

 _Easily overwhelming the Jedi Order, and occupying the whole of the Republic's forces, this period of chaos has also given rise to independent parties on both sides of the law, and of the Force, all seeking to fulfill their personal agendas. The most notable of these independents is Navarro de Liquidis, a powerful Sith Warrior who wanders the galaxy in search of ancient Force Artifacts to fulfill an unknown purpose._

 _During a costly and desperate ambush, Jedi Master Katrine Secura has captured Navarro, and now along with her Padawan Becca Antilles, rushes to secure the Sith prisoner in the only place that can contain him…_

There was a constant rumble throughout the Republic Cruiser _Iceni_ as its sub-light engines pushed the large vessel through the darkness toward its destination. There was little activity going on outside, since this was a sparsely populated region, even for the Outer Rim, but the activity going on within the cruiser's hull more than made up for it. Security patrols had been doubled, with helmeted Republic Soldiers constantly moving up and down the halls, and constant comms check-ins between superiors of all ranks and their subordinates.

The routine passing by of the fighter patrols gave Jedi Padawan Becca Antilles something to look at as she peered out the window of the quarters that she shared with her Master, but then there was nothing to see but the stars in the distance once they were past. Honestly, she didn't understand why everyone was making such a big deal out of a single prisoner, since her Master had been able to capture him on her own. Granted, she had to spend some time in the Kolto tank after handing him over to the Republic, but she was fine now so why was everyone acting so crazy?

Her allotted time to rest was almost over now, not that Becca ever slept well onboard a starship, and soon she would be expected to return to her Master's side. So she made a quick stop at the Refresher to make sure that she was presentable, and ended up just putting her long blonde hair up into a shaggy ponytail. It was times like this when she wished she was a Zeltron, like her Master; with flawless pink skin, and purple hair that was never a mess when she woke up, but instead the Force had made her a Human.

Yes, she was jealous of her Master's looks, especially since she was always required to be at her side, making her look more like the stereotypical _ugly friend_. Not that Becca was ugly at all, and in fact she had been complimented on her looks several times, but let's face it, even Twi'Leks were ugly compared to Zeltrons. Feeling like this always made her feel bad about herself, since she had no right being negative toward the woman who had saved her from a lifetime of tilling fields for _Agri-Corps_ after she didn't have a Master when she turned thirteen.

That day was supposed to have been a happy one. Her thirteenth birthday had just passed, and she had successfully completed the last part of _Youngling_ training by constructing her Lightsaber. Then she and all the other graduates had lined up for selection by the available Masters, but in the end there just weren't enough, since more than one Padawan wasn't allowed. So she and the unselected others were given to _Agri-Corps_ , to work as farmers and laborers on _Alderaan_ of all places. And it was there that she would spend the next three years of her life, until Katrine appeared.

She still didn't understand exactly why her Master had chosen her to be her new Padawan, but she didn't complain, as it meant putting down her pitch-fork and resuming the life of a Jedi. This also left her a bit behind the other Padawans her age as far as skills, but she did her best, and now three years later at nineteen years old, she was still doing her best to learn the lessons her Master provided. One of those lessons just happened to be punctuality, so Becca finished getting dressed, and walked out into the hallway.

"Greetings, Master Jedi." A Soldier said politely as he walked past her.

"Hello." Becca replied while heading the other way.

To those not in the Jedi Order, all Jedi must have appeared the same, because even though she was just a Padawan learner, everyone still greeted her with the same title as her Master. Katrine had told her to not worry about it, and to take it as a term of courtesy from them, but it still made her feel uncomfortable. Maybe things would be different when she became a Jedi Knight, but that was still years away. This same greeting was said to her multiple times as she made her way through the ship toward the detention area, and now there were even more Soldiers moving around.

With all of them standing there, it made Becca feel like she was doing something wrong when she moved past them, even though she knew that she was allowed to be there. And as for her Master, she was standing inside one of the holding cells with her back to them. Even in the simple, unflattering robes of the Jedi, Katrine was still beautiful, causing the twinge of jealousy to cross her mind as all of the Republic Soldiers kept trying to sneak quick looks at her while remaining watchful for threats. But then Becca's attention turned to the Human male that was in the cell with her Master.

"Navarro, you should know that _Hoth_ is not a pleasant world." Her Master said. "Technology is prone to malfunction because of the weather, so you could often find yourself without heat when the temperatures are below freezing at noon."

"You think that scares me, Jedi?" He replied calmly. "But even if it did, I'd still have the memories of _your own_ terrified screams to keep me warm. So, have you told them how you managed to _capture_ me? Or did you just spin the usual Jedi nonsense?"

Navarro de Liquidis was suspended in the air by a blue energy field that kept his arms pinned to his sides, with the field intensifying around his wrists and ankles to a point that these areas resembled shackles. He was also shirtless, revealing multiple cuts and burns across his torso, and all of his possessions had been taken away upon his arrest. Becca imagined that she would have been terrified if she were in a helpless position like that, but Navarro appeared to be perfectly calm. Katrine, however, was not; seeming to have been angered by his last statement.

"Damn it, Navarro, the Council wants answers." She said intensely as she moved right up to him. "How did you learn these secrets of the Dark Side? Your weapons, your skills… the Sith Empire doesn't have them, nor does the Jedi Order… so who has been teaching you these forgotten secrets, and where did they learn them? _You will tell me what I want to know_."

"I _will_?" He asked with obviously fake bewilderment. "Are you _sure_?"

Becca watched as her Master repeated this phrase several times, closing her eyes and holding up her hand in an attempt to make him obey her. She had seen Katrine do this to dozens of people of many different species in order to make them do what she wanted, but for some reason it wasn't working on Navarro. From her training she knew that such manipulation was easiest on those who are weak minded, but it was still possible for a powerful Jedi to accomplish this with those of a strong mind, using enough skill and determination.

" _You don't want to try that on me anymore_." Navarro suddenly interrupted.

"I don't want to try that on you anymore." Katrine replied blankly while opening her eyes and lowering her hand.

Navarro chuckled a little at this, but Becca was confused as to how her Master could have been affected in this way. Back at the temple on _Coruscant_ , she had seen Katrine resist this from several Padawans at once during a lesson, and even from Master Vandar during a visit to the Jedi Academy on Dantooine, but somehow Navarro had managed to do what none of them were able to do.

"Aw, _poor Katrine_ , you've made a mistake." He continued with a condescending tone. "You were so intent on attacking me, that you forgot to defend yourself, and just let me walk right in, didn't you? So my lesson for you, _Master Jedi_ is this: Do not lower your guard, even when your enemy is disarmed and helpless, for an empty hand can yet become a fist. _You will turn around and leave this cell_."

"I will turn around and leave this cell." Katrine replied blankly as she turned away from him.

Becca watched in awe as her Master obeyed his command by walking out of the cell, but once back in the corridor, Katrine seemed to come back to her senses. Leaning against the wall while putting her hand on her head as if fatigued, her Master took only a moment to compose herself, seeming almost completely fine by the time Becca walked up to her. Stealing a look back into the cell, Navarro appeared pleased with himself, snickering lightly as she checked on her Master.

"Master, are you all right?" She asked. "What happened in there?"

"I'm fine, young Padawan." Katrine explained. "I simply made a mistake; his ability to conceal himself from being sensed through the Force made me overconfident, and I forgot who I was dealing with. Take what you've seen here to heart, Becca, and remember that no matter how powerful you become, overconfidence can still destroy you."

The incident was over, and now it was Katrine's turn to get some rest, and the Zeltron looked like she needed it. This left Becca in charge of guarding the prisoner, but only as far as hitting the alarm button to alert her Master if something happened. So Katrine slowly walked down the corridor until she was out of sight, and Becca made sure to stay well outside of Navarro's cell. She was getting pretty handy with a Lightsaber, and her ability to use the Force was getting a little stronger every day, but she had no delusions about being able to take on a fully trained Sith by herself.

"So, how are you doing, Soldier?" Becca asked, in an attempt to pass the time.

"I can't wait to get this guy off the ship." The nearest Soldier replied. " _Whiteout Colony's_ the best place for Sith-scum like that, and when this war's over, I hope we throw the whole lot of them in there together."

"Yeah, we should leave them _all_ on _Hoth_." The one next to him added. "Take away the starships, and let'em fend for themselves."

"Such _hostility_." Navarro said from inside the cell. "And here I thought we were all gonna be such good friends."

In learning about the dangers of the Dark Side of the Force, Becca had been taught that Sith are basically Jedi who have been consumed by their passions. According to what the Masters said, they were little more than violent, undisciplined animals, but Navarro appeared calm and focused. There was also something else bothering her about him, and since he had spoken to them, she couldn't resist asking.

"Navarro, why didn't you try to escape?" She asked, almost innocently. "When you manipulated my Master, I mean. You could've had her release you, but you didn't."

"Because escape wasn't my plan." He explained with a smile. "I was just having a little _fun_ with Katrine, and besides, sometimes Jedi need to be knocked down a few pegs. She'll be stronger for it, and who knows, maybe I'll think of some ways to strengthen _you_ as well."

He then winked at her, making a knot form in her stomach as she quickly turned away from him. Becca could hear him snickering to himself as she moved behind the doorway to where he couldn't see her, and she had a feeling that her shift was about to start feeling a lot longer.


	2. Chapter 2 Hoth Six

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Two: Hoth Six**

Becca was right, her shift now felt like it was taking almost three times longer than usual to pass, and all because she was trying to avoid Navarro's gaze. For a while she tried doing small talk with the Soldiers, and it was nice to find out about what kinds of lives they led before the war and what they were going to do once it was over. They all talked about their families, or lovers that they planned on settling down with, pretty much anything they could do in order to leave this war behind them and return to normal like. Of course, the Jedi don't have a _normal life_ to go back to once a conflict is over, and that made her sad.

It was forbidden within the Jedi Order for those within to form personal attachments beyond friendship or the bond between Master and Padawan. No matter who they met, or what kind of feelings developed, the Jedi had to be willing to cast that person completely out of their lives at a moment's notice. According to the Masters, such attachments created a fear of losing that person, and as was taught to her when she was a Youngling: _Fear_ leads to anger, _anger_ leads to _hatred,_ and hatred leads to _suffering_. To them it was an empty road to the Dark Side, but sometimes Becca would see the affection that others shared, and wanted to feel it for herself.

"Dangerous thoughts for a Jedi." Navarro said from within the cell. "You should speak to your Master about them."

Gasping as her eyes went wide, Becca took the Lightsaber from her belt as she walked up to the doorway, but did not ignite the blade as she stood there in full view of the prisoner. The anger that she felt toward him for doing something so rude as to pry into her private thoughts was overpowering, but then she remembered that Jedi were supposed to resist such outbursts of emotion. After all, _there is no emotion, there is peace_ , and after repeating this silently as well as the rest of the _Jedi Code_ two or three times, the anger faded.

"Navarro, I am going to ask you very nicely." She said while putting the weapon back on her belt. "To please, in the future, show me the common courtesy of not reading my mind."

"Invade the mind of another?" Navarro replied, unaffected by her outburst. "Never something to be done recklessly; I just heard them so _clearly_ that I thought you spoke them out loud. Can you forgive me, sweetheart?"

For a moment she thought that he was going to give her an actual apology, but no apology feels good when it's accompanied by pet-names from a Sith. So Becca tried to be a polite as she could, nodding a little while hurrying back around the wall to where he couldn't see her. There were no windows on this deck of the ship for her to look out, but she already knew that they were moving at the same slow pace. If they had been traveling to anywhere else, the ship would have been there already, but this was taking _forever_.

"I don't see why we had to drop out of hyperspace so far away." She grumbled to the Soldier.

"Well, Master Jedi, there's a very good reason." The Soldier explained. "Whiteout Colony was meant to hold prisoners who can manipulate the Force, but its location is secret, so we drop out at a crossroads between five different Systems. That way if we're ever being followed by the Sith, we can just go to one of the others planets, and they'll never be the wiser."

His explanation made sense, but knowing the reasoning behind something that took forever didn't make it end any faster, so it was back to idle chatter with the Soldiers. This went on for the next couple hours until her shift ended, announced by the perfectly timed arrival of her Master. But instead of her usual Jedi Robes, Katrine was all bundled up in heavy snow gear, which made Becca happy because it meant that they were getting close to _Hoth_. In her Master's arms was also an identical set of clothing, which was a lot heavier than it looked when Katrine passed it to her.

"We've just entered the _Hoth System_." She explained. "Go and get changed, and then meet me in the shuttle bay. We should be just about at the sixth planet by the time you're ready."

Any excuse to get away from Navarro was a good one, so Becca moved quickly, returning to her quarters and setting the snow gear on the bed before stripping out of her Jedi Robes. There were several layers of clothing for her to put on, from the lightest ones that went against her skin, to the heaviest ones that consisted of her jacket and boots. The hood that came with the jacket was also lined with thick fur that might have seemed too hot now, but from what she had heard of _Hoth_ , it was well worth having.

It was a little harder to move as she put the Lightsaber on her belt and walked back into the hallway, and Becca was sure that she looked a little funny while moving through the corridors and taking turbolifts on her way down to the shuttle bay. Master Katrine and a dozen Republic Soldiers were already waiting outside the shuttle when she got there, and now the only one missing was the prisoner. She was about to ask about him, when the turbolift opened again, and Becca turned around to see Navarro standing there.

He was in a kind of electric shackle-set that held his wrists and neck together, and another set of shackles were around his ankles, preventing him from moving any faster than taking baby-steps. He was also still shirtless and barefoot, while one of the Soldiers escorting him carried a large box that left the jacket he had been wearing visible, as well as the end of his Lightsaber's hilt. During the part of the battle with him that Becca saw, Navarro had used an actual sword to engage her Master, but that had been immediately sent back to the Jedi Council for study.

"And here you are, Master Jedi." A Soldier said when they reached the group. "One prisoner, and one box of personnel property belonging to said prisoner. I'd say it was a pleasure having him here, but that would be a lie."

Navarro was shoved over to Katrine while the box was handed over to two of her Soldiers, and with that, everyone walked up the ramp into the shuttle. There was a row of seats on each side that faced each other, and the prisoner was shoved into one that was between two Soldiers, and directly across from Becca and her Master. Nothing was said as the engines powered up, and soon movement could be felt as the shuttle left the cruiser. By turning her head and looking into the cockpit, she could see a blue and while landscape getting bigger until it dominated the whole view.

"Master, why is Navarro still dressed like that?" Becca asked quietly. "You said that the temperatures on _Hoth_ are below freezing even at noon."

"It is so that he doesn't try to escape." Katrine explained. "Once we land, the only shelter available will be inside the Colony, which means that he will freeze to death if he tries to go anywhere else. I know it seems cruel, but I promise you that he will be fine so long as he follows the rules."

Her Master was right, it _did_ seem cruel, but it also made sense. With no clothes beyond the pants he was wearing, there was no way he would try to run away even a short distance without the risk of freezing. Hopefully, there wasn't too large a distance between the landing zone and the entrance to the Colony, since Becca still felt pity and compassion, even though the prisoner was a Sith. Soon the engines could be felt slowing down as the shuttle came in for a landing, and then the rumbling stopped completely a moment after touching down.

"Well, we're here." Katrine said as she stood up. "Brace yourself, young Padawan."

A brilliant white light then entered the shuttle as the ramp opened, and with it came a gust of cold air that was so intense, it seemed to pierce right through her layers. Unable to stop herself, she cried out in surprise while wrapping her arms around her body tightly, but it did no good. The ice world of _Hoth_ had now given her a new definition of the word _cold_ , and judging by how bright it was outside, they had arrived at the warmest part of the day. This made her very thankful that they had not arrived at night, and as she stood up, she couldn't wait to get inside the Colony.

As for Navarro, he was shivering as the Soldiers forced him to his feet by grabbing his arms, and Becca could see that he was barely able to keep his balance as they hurried him toward the ramp. Once there, instead of slowing down, the Soldiers suddenly shoved him forward, making the prisoner stumble before falling off the side of the ramp into a pile of snow. The Soldiers laughed as he tried to get up, but then stopped when met with the stern gaze of Katrine. The Jedi Master pointed at the prisoner, and the Soldiers jumped off the ramp to help him up while everyone else exited the shuttle.

"Navarro, are you all right?" Katrine asked when he was brought to her.

"The Force will sustain me, Katrine." He replied as his usual calm returned. "But thank you."

The Soldiers ushered him forward again, the whole group moving across the frozen landing pad that was barely recognizable as one, toward the only structure in sight. There was a built up mound that was covered with a thick layer of snow, and if not for the heavy blast door on the flat side that faced them, Becca might not have known that it was the entrance to the underground facility. There was a squeaking sound as the door slowly slid open when they approached, and when the pieces of ice and snow finished falling off of it, a group of armed men walked out.

They were in snow gear similar to what the Republic Soldiers were wearing, and at the center of the group was a woman who had an air of confidence in her walk as she approached them. During this time, Navarro had been made to stand there in the elements without the protective clothing that the others enjoyed, and this made Becca feel more and more sorry for him. Even if he was a Sith, he was still a prisoner, and prisoners in the Republic were supposed to have certain rights.

"Welcome, Master Katrine." The woman said as she and Katrine shook hands. "I am Coryn Brower, the Warden of _Whiteout Colony_. And this must be Mr. de Liquidis… we've been expecting you."

"And I am just _thrilled_ to be here." Navarro replied while trying to stop shivering. "Some free advice, though: If you're ever fighting a Jedi Master, and she starts to fall off a cliff, _don't_ save her no matter _how much_ she begs you for help."

"That's enough out of you, Sith-scum!" The nearest Soldier yelled. "We would've shot you dead on _sight_ if not for the Jedi, so you best treat her with some respect!"

He then spun his rifle around and rammed the stock into the prisoner's stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he fell to his knees. The others took this as a sign to join in, probably as a way to get revenge against the Sith Empire, regardless of the fact that Navarro wasn't a part of it. All they saw was another Sith, and they were about to hit him again, when they were stopped by the sound and yellow glow of Katrine's Lightsaber activating.

"That's enough." Becca's Master ordered, making the Soldiers stand down. "This man is our enemy, yes, but he is also a prisoner, and in the Republic we have rules about this sort of thing. And no, it isn't because we're soft, or weak, it's because we're better than the Sith, and the moment we forget that, we become no better than they are. Now let's get this over with."

"Right this way, Master Jedi." Warden Brower replied while motioning toward the door. "If you will all follow me down to _processing_ , we can take the prisoner off your hands, and you can all be on your way."


	3. Chapter 3 Whiteout Colony

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Three: Whiteout Colony**

It was still ridiculously cold as they stepped through the door into a small room that turned out to be a turbolift, but at least the wind was blocked when the door closed. Then they started down, remaining inside the turbolift long enough to have easily moved the distance of six floors, which made sense because a facility that was built this far underground would be better protected against the elements. Not only could electrical equipment be better insulated against freezing, but maintaining a comfortable living temperature would be easier as well since the heat couldn't escape.

Becca was hoping, as the turbolift slowed down, that it would be warm enough at the lower levels for her to take off some of the layers she was wearing. But she quickly learned that this was not the case, when the doors opened and there was only a slight temperature difference. The cold wasn't completely piercing her snow gear any more, which she was thankful for, but she was still shivering. She also expected to see a lot of security people moving around like on the _Iceni_ , but this place was surprisingly empty.

"Processing is just down the hall." Warden Brower said as she stepped out. "This is the top floor of the facility, which is dedicated to our administrative department, mess hall, and security systems. The floor below us is used for staff housing, as well as maintenance access for the power, heating, and air recycling systems. Finally the bottom floor is dedicated solely to prisoner confinement, and is where our newest guest will be moved to after processing."

"You seem to have a very efficient facility here, Warden." Master Katrine replied as they started down the hall. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are very impressed."

As they continued to chat, Becca was looking around at the facility itself, noticing that the walls and ceiling appeared to be tunnels carved through a single gigantic ice block. This again made sense considering the location, and a metal grate was laid down as a floor, most likely to prevent slipping. There were pipes and conduits bolted right to the ice as well, running the entire length of the ceiling, and explaining why it had to be so cold in the facility. After all, they wouldn't want the lights falling down when the ice started to melt, now would they?

"You're too kind, Master Jedi." The Warden continued. "Hey, why don't you let your Soldiers head to the mess hall? I'm sure they would appreciate some food and rest, and besides, I don't think Navarro is going anywhere."

"I agree." Katrine replied. "Men, feel free to take it easy while Becca and I finish with the prisoner. I'll signal you when it's time to leave."

No sooner had she said those words, than the Republic Soldiers all started heading toward the mess hall. Becca also wished that she could go with them, but her Master had spoken, so it was off to processing. As they moved farther down the hall, a few more guards could be seen at their assigned points, but that was it. She didn't see any maintenance workers, or administrative staff, and even the receptionist's desk was vacant as they moved with Navarro into the processing area. Maybe they were in the middle of shift change, or maybe they were working with a skeleton crew because this was third shift.

"And here we are." Warden Brower said as they entered an office with turbolift access. "Now, if we'll all take a seat, we can get this over with. Oh, not you, Navarro. Guards, position Mr. de Liquidis at the turbolift door; I want him taken care of as soon as we are done here."

Two of her guards took the prisoner by the arms, and made him continue to take baby-steps as they moved him over to the turbolift door. They made him stand there, facing it with his nose nearly touching the metal, and two more guards carried his box of possessions. As for the Warden, she sat down behind the desk, removing her hood and scarf to reveal pretty green eyes and long red hair that fell down around her shoulders. Once she was more comfortable, she turned on the computer that was in front of her.

"I have a series of questions for you, Master Jedi." The Warden said. "First, are you _absolutely_ certain that the man you brought here is _really_ Navarro de Liquidis? I was told that he was a Sith, but he doesn't appear to be."

"I understand your confusion." Katrine replied. "Somehow he has learned how to conceal himself from being sensed through the Force, so most Jedi don't know what he is until it's too late. A remarkable ability, but also one of the many reasons I am happy to see him confined in this facility."

Typing rapidly on the keyboard, the Warden seemed a bit unsettled about this revelation, and this was fine, since Master Katrine had felt the same way when she first found out. But this also threw up a red flag for Becca, as it was very odd for the Warden to have any reason to question whether or not he was a Sith. That is, unless she was Force Sensitive, herself, which would make sense in order to oversee a prison for Force Users. Her Master also did not seem to sense anything wrong about this, so she let it go.

"Most of his data is already here, so there's just one last thing." She explained. "I was informed that the prisoner was in possession of a sword. A very _old_ sword… but I don't see it among his possessions."

"There was a sword, yes." Katrine explained. "But the Jedi Council requested it for study, so it was already sent back to Coruscant."

The Warden had started typing, but then stopped once this last bit of information was revealed, and now her whole demeanor appeared to have changed for the worse. Her smile was gone, replaced by an angry stare as if Becca and her Master had done something wrong. But what was it? They had followed all of the procedures, and done everything right, but no one had told them anything about keeping the sword with them. Besides, it was an ancient artifact of the Force, and thereby under Jedi jurisdiction.

"So you don't have the sword?" Warden Brower asked. "Guards, send our guest down to the lowest level."

"I fail to see what is so important about his sword." Katrine replied as the guards pushed the turbolift button. "It is merely an ancient Sith Sword that dates back to the pre-Lightsaber days of _Naga Sadow_. There are _dozens_ of them at the temple, but if you are looking for some kind of trophy for Navarro being here, I'm afraid only the Jedi Masters have access.

"Hey, what is this?" Navarro demanded when the doors opened. "The turbolift isn't even…

His words were interrupted as the two guards at his sides suddenly raised their rifles and shot him in the back, making Katrine and Becca jump to their feet as their prisoner tumbled forward into the empty turbolift shaft. The two Jedi activated their matching yellow Lightsabers as Navarro's box of possessions was tossed down the shaft after him, and then all of the guards around them took aim with their blaster rifles.

"Why, oh, why did you have to send the sword away, Katrine?" Warden Brower asked. "You could've just handed it over and been done with it, but _no_ , instead you opted to waste my time."

"Soldiers, we have a situation." Katrine said into her wrist comlink while keeping her weapon ready. "Escort detail, respond."

The Warden just smiled as the mess hall door behind them opened, as if she were eager to face all of them in combat, but then as the occupants of the room began to come out, Becca saw that it wasn't excitement that made Brower smile. It was knowledge that she had the upper hand as the Republic Soldiers appeared, not on their feet, but hanging limply as they were dragged by her more of her guards. With this new group was a powerful looking Iridonian, and as the guards dropped the Soldiers on the floor, Becca was more concerned with the fact that the Iridonian was wearing a Lightsaber.

"To think all the work I did to set this up was wasted!" Brower growled angrily as she stood up. "Finding this place, replacing the staff, impersonating the Warden, all for _nothing_! You will _pay_ for this, Master Jedi. You _and_ your Padawan."

"All is not lost, Mistress." The Iridonian replied. "The sword might have been taken to the _Jedi Archives_ and placed among dozens, but these Jedi can still identify it. That, and most likely give us a way to gain access to it."

As intense and unexpected as this situation was, Becca still had hope. They might have been outnumbered, but a standard part of any mission with the Republic was regular check-ins through the comlink. Every hour they were supposed to contact the _Iceni_ , and if they didn't, the Captain would assume that something was wrong, and send help. It hadn't quite been an hour since they landed in the shuttle, but it couldn't be that much longer until they missed it. Maybe fifteen minutes at the most, and surely her Master could keep them safe for that long, if not find a solution on her own.

"Who are you?" Katrine demanded. "Are you Sith? Did the _Empire_ send you?"

"Sith? Hardly." Brower replied. "Navarro is a testament of what we do _them_. As I said, my name is Coryn Brower, and I suppose you could consider me one of those nasty _Independents_ that the Republic is always whining about. Of course, you may find _my_ methods of controlling the Force a bit more _primitive_ or _naturalistic_ than you're used to. Now, hand over your swords, or I might have to _damage_ you."

"What do we do, Master?" Becca asked.

But Brower didn't give Katrine any time to react, aside from throwing Becca out of the way as a barrage of purple energy was suddenly released from the fake Warden's hands. Unlike the directed lightning she had been warned about during her studies, this strange attack was more like a cone made of individual tendrils that seemed to be actively grabbing at her Master. Katrine tried to deflect them with her Lightsaber, but there were too many, and Becca's Master screamed when purple energy tendrils bit into her skin like snakes. The weapon fell from her hand as Katrine collapsed, so now everything was up to Becca.

Hoping that a strange attack like that would have drained Brower enough to leave her vulnerable, the Padawan got to her feet, and leapt toward the fake Warden while swinging her own Lightsaber. But then the Iridonian aimed his hand toward her, and Becca gasped as she was knocked off course, instead crashing into the wall, and dropping her weapon when she fell back to the floor.

"Thank you, Kevrap." Brower said while catching her breath. "As a reward, you may watch the Padawan freeze to death on the surface. Join us in the detention area when you're done; guards, bring Master Katrine."

This time there was a turbolift there when the doors opened, and Becca was just getting to her feet as the guards dragged her Master into it. Brower waved _goodbye_ to her as the doors closed, and now she was alone with the approaching Iridonian. Becca couldn't deny that she was afraid, but she had no intention of being left on the surface, so she did the only thing she could: Using the Force to make her Lightsaber fly into her hand from where it had fallen, she activated the weapon and prepared to face him.


	4. Chapter 4 A Horrible Choice

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Four: A Horrible Choice**

The Iridonian hesitated for a second when Becca ignited her Lightsaber, but the shock of her actually being willing to defend herself didn't last. At best, Kevrap seemed surprised at this show of force, but his confusion quickly turned to laughter as his own Lightsaber unhooked itself from his belt before flying into his hand. Becca gasped a little as he activated the weapon, surprised by the fact that the blade glowed blue instead of red like she had expected, as well as becoming nervous since she had never faced anyone in Lightsaber combat outside of the training room at the academy.

"Look at that, _I_ have one, too." He laughed while slowly moving closer. "You look uneasy, little Padawan, in fact… I can _feel_ the fear coming off of you. You have until I reach you to drop the sword, girl, because freezing to death will be _far_ more pleasant that what I'm going to do to you if you resist me."

"I don't want to fight you, Kevrap." Becca replied while trying and failing to sound brave. "So you just… stay back."

He didn't listen, not that she really expected him to as he continued advancing toward her, but she had to stay strong. Not only would she be frozen to death if the Iridonian got a hold of her, but there was also the matter of her Master. She couldn't begin to fathom what horrors the fake Warden had in store for Katrine, since she blamed her for them not bringing Navarro's sword with them to the planet. So not only did Becca have to somehow stop Kevrap from killing her, but she also needed to save her Master from the Iridonian's Mistress, who was probably even worse than he was.

Again, the Padawan warned Kevrap to stay back, but he still didn't listen as he reached her, prompting Becca to defend herself by swinging her Lightsaber. There was a brief flash of light as the Iridonian deflected her attack, and then he came back with his own swing, which had so much force that Becca was sent stumbling backwards when she deflected it. Quickly regaining her footing, she took the offensive, making a series of swinging and stabbing attacks on different parts of his body, but again he was able to deflect each one before lifting his leg and booting her in the chest.

"Pathetic and weak." The Iridonian commented as she fell over a chair. "Be warned, little Jedi, that my patience with you has worn out. Attack me again, and I will defeat you in _one_ move… and then you will _suffer_."

"I… I do not fear the Dark Side." She replied after getting up. "I am a Jedi, and if I have to defeat you in order to save my Master, then so be it."

Focusing all of her abilities, and rushing toward him for a perfectly times strike, Becca was startled by his ability to bend his body out of the way. The attack hit nothing but air, and then the Padawan received the surprise of her life when Kevrap reached out and pulled the weapon out of her hand. The yellow blade vanished as he threw the hilt across the room, and then he stabbed at Becca, making her cry out as the tip of his blade gave her a good burn on the shoulder. She couldn't help crying out in surprise and pain as the blade burned right through her heavy jacket, and she started to back away from him, only to scream as he poked her in the knee using the same method.

"Aw, did I hurt you, precious?" He continued as she fell to the floor. "Well, then let's see how _this_ feels."

Becca was starting to get up, when Kevrap poked her in the back of the calf-muscle, the blue blade burning right through her thick clothes as she was sent back down. Rolling onto her back to scoot away, she was poked in the stomach, so she rolled over to crawl away, only to be poked on the rear. He kept poking her with the Lightsaber in a different place each time she tried to move, trapping her in place, and soon Becca was screaming as he poked her hands when she tried to protect herself as well.

"Mmmmm, smells like someone's _cooking_." Kevrap said as he moved the blade around in search of his next target. "Unfortunately for you, Padawan, I like my meat _well-done_."

Her body was smoldering from each of the burns, and was hard to move because he had been so thorough in hitting every part of her. The pain was so bad that tears started to run from Becca's eyes as she again tried to scoot away, but then she screamed as Kevrap resumed burning her with the tip of the blue blade. Again and again he poked her with it, laughing at her attempts to escape or defend herself, until the Iridonian received the shock of his life when she used the Force to throw him backwards. Kevrap cried out in surprise as he crashed through a table, and Becca used this distraction to try and get away, but found herself still unable to move.

" _Escort detail, this is the Iceni_." A voice crackled through on her wrist comlink. " _Escort detail, you are ten minutes overdue for check in. Master Katrine, are you there_?"

Suddenly filled with hope as she brought the comlink up to her mouth, Becca suddenly found herself unable to say anything, or even breathe as what felt like invisible fingers clamped down on her throat. Kevrap's arm was pointed toward her as he put the Lightsaber hilt back on his belt, then once he got to his feet and walked over to her, he stomped his large foot down onto her forearm hard enough to smash the comlink. The invisible grip continued to tighten, making her choke and gag while the Iridonian grabbed her by the hair and forced the Padawan to her feet.

"I had hoped for more time to play with you." Kevrap continued as he threw her forward so that she slumped over nearby desk. "But after all, you're my guest, so if you're in that much of a hurry to get to the surface, I have to oblige you."

The good news was that Becca was able to breathe again as the grip released, but now the Iridonian was grabbing her ankle as he pulled off one of her boots. She couldn't just give up, so she twisted around to grab his arm, but then found her ears ringing when he struck her with the back of his fist. Gasping as the invisible grip returned, there was nothing the Padawan could to as he removed her other boot, and ripped off her two heaviest layers of clothing as well. Even inside the facility, the biting cold ripped into her, since now she only had the first thin layer that was against her skin to protect her from the elements.

"You surprise me yet again, Padawan." Kevrap said as the grip released, allowing her to cough and gasp for breath. "Who knew that there was such a pretty little thing hidden under all that snow gear?"

" _You want to let me go_." She replied, focusing on his mind with everything she had left. " _You want to let me go_."

Instead of responding with words, the Iridonian grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to her feet, showing her that her Mind Trick had been unsuccessful by ramming his knee into her stomach. The wind was knocked out of her as she started to fall forward, but Kevrap maintained his grip on her hair as he started walking, making Becca have to stumble awkwardly toward the turbolift that they had come in on. The doors opened with a _hiss_ , and she tried to keep from entering it, but the Iridonian was too strong. Once inside, he shoved her forward so that she fell on her face, and then the temperature started to drop as they started up toward the surface.

If she was going to come up with a plan to survive this, then she had to do it quickly. She was no match for Kevrap, and she couldn't use the Force to affect his mind, but maybe there was another way. Along with all of the horrible memories she had about her brief time on _Hoth's_ surface, she remembered Navarro saying that the Force would sustain him, so maybe she could do that to keep herself from freezing as well. So she concentrated, trying to let go of all feelings and sensations of the world around her, but when the turbolift stopped and the doors opened, the Padawan couldn't stop herself from screaming as the cruel surface wind returned.

"This is your stop, young one." The Iridonian laughed as he stood over her. "You're going to freeze to death out there, and I will be watching until your last breath turns to frost in your mouth, and the snow buries you forever."

"No, please!" Becca screamed when he grabbed her hair to pull her. "Please don't leave me out there! Please, I'll do anything!"

Part of her was ashamed of herself for this sudden outburst of begging for her life, but Becca was so terrified that she couldn't help herself. In all of her nineteen years of life, she had _never_ encountered a situation like this before, and as much as she hated it, bargaining for her life seemed to be the only way to survive. She also expected Kevrap to just laugh and throw her out anyway, but he didn't. Instead, the Iridonian tightened his grip on her hair, and pulled her head up to look at him as he knelt down with her.

"You want to live, little Padawan?" He asked while glaring at her. "I know you do, but if I spare your life, the rest of it will _not_ be pleasant. You will be my _slave_ , and there could be _months_ , or even _years_ or torture and abuse before your spirit is gone and I get bored with you. After that, I'll sell you to Vogga the Hutt on _Nar Shadda_ , where the rest of your life will be divided between dancing for his amusement, and warming the beds of his many, _many_ guests."

Becca didn't know what to say back to all this, again encountering something that was never covered in her training. The cold was already burning her more than his Lightsaber had done, and she could feel the tears in her eyes freezing shortly after moving onto her cheeks. Apparently she had not answered quickly enough, because Kevrap suddenly stood up, and dragged her to the door of the turbolift, where she screamed again as he tossed her into the nearest snowbank. The thin layer of clothing she still had did nothing as the powdery snow found her skin through the Lightsaber holes, and the only thing she could think to do was crawl back to the turbolift.

Scrambling to her hands and knees, the Padawan rushed to the door as fast as she could, but Kevrap kicked her in the mouth, making her fall onto her back. Panic was completely taking over her actions as she tried again, this time getting struck with the back of his fist and falling over sideways. Wanting to get up again, this time she had trouble when the skin of her arm stuck to the frozen landing pad, and it left a huge red mark when she finally managed to pull it free.

"So what will it be, little Padawan?" The Iridonian asked as she cradled her arm. "Fifteen minutes out here at the most until you die, or a _lifetime_ as someone's obedient little pet? It probably hurts you to talk right now, so choose with your actions. You can either stay there, or you can crawl back into the turbolift; you have ten seconds before I close the door."

He was right, the cold already made it almost impossible to talk when she tried, but she didn't want to die, nor did she want to be a slave. However, when his hand started to move toward the controls, the fear of death came out on top, and Becca crawled past him into the turbolift as quickly as she could. Falling over onto her side and hugging herself from the cold, Kevrap laughed as he closed the door, and even that tiny bit of warmth from the wind being blocked felt like a blessing.

"I'm glad you chose to live, _slave_." The Iridonian said as they started back down into the facility. "I'm going to put you in chains and show your Jedi Master how weak and pathetic you are, but first… I need to make sure you know your place."


	5. Chapter 5 The Deepening Darkness

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Five: The Deepening Darkness**

Throughout her long career as a Jedi, Master Katrine had been through a great deal. She had negotiated to stop wars on distant planets, trained several young Padawans into competent Jedi Knights, and most recently fought and captured a Sith on the planet _Geonosis_. She had been in countless fights for various reasons, and met creature never before seen in the Republic, but one place she never thought that she would end up was in a holding cell on _Hoth_ , suspended in the same kind of shackles that had been used to hold Navarro on the _Iceni_. But there she was, floating helplessly while Coryn Brower attempted to interrogate her.

"Your Padawan is surely dead by now." Brower said with a smirk. "But you can save yourself from a similar fate if you agree to help me."

"A Jedi's life is sacrifice." Katrine replied. "If Becca is dead, then she will be honored _and_ remembered in the _Jedi Archives_. You, however, will not. You're selfish and cruel ways will only lead you deeper into the Dark Side, and when your path reaches its end, you will be alone."

This was a basic technique to try and reach her, often successful in redeeming Padawans who were in danger of falling to the Dark Side, but Brower was no Padawan. Still, Katrine hoped that there was some small part of the red-haired woman that could be redeemed, in spite of all she had done. This hope was dimmed, however, when Brower laughed before opening her hands and causing a wave of green energy to wash over the Jedi Master. Katrine had been expecting to feel pain like she had when bitten by the purple tendrils, but instead she suddenly felt weak. A potent fatigue now swelled throughout her entire body, leaving her hanging limp against the restraints while her breathing became heavy and labored.

"Brave words, Jedi." Brower said while moving closer. "But I have heard countless versions of this same speech from more Jedi than you will ever know… and they are all dead. You think you understand the Force because of your pompous order's teachings, and you think you understand the Dark Side because of your encounters with the pitiful Sith, but you do not."

"And now _you_ make familiar speeches." Katrine replied as she caught her breath. "Like all before you who have tasted the Dark Side, you believe yourself special. The archives are _filled_ with accounts of those who thought their power rivaled _Ajunta Pall_ , but what they all seem to forget is that even _he_ now lies dead and buried."

Brower seemed to be amused by this counter-argument, folding her arms across her chest while smirking and tilting her hips to the side. Then her smirk became a bout of insane laughter that echoed down the halls of the detention area, before it suddenly stopped. The amusement quickly vanished from her face, replaced by an expression of pure hatred as she released the purple energy tendrils from her hands. Katrine let out an ear-splitting scream as a dozen of them bit into her while the others seemed to just crash into the walls and floor at random, and she frantically struggled against the restraints until the energy faded.

"When the _Jedi High Council_ banished Ajunta Pall, they thought he would die." She explained while pulling Katrine's hair to make her look up at her. "Weaponless and packed into a shuttle that wasn't even be _space worthy_ by today's standards, he defied them by leading his people to Korriban where the first _Sith Empire_ was founded. When his health finally declined, a way was discovered to save him, but for some reason he refused. There were tears shed as a frantic young woman begged her _Dark Lord_ to allow her to save him, but still he refused… and then he died… right there in my arms."

"What is this nonsense you're speaking?" Katrine asked with agony in her voice. "Ajunta Pall died _thousands_ of years ago, yet you talk as if you knew the man. Don't you see that the Dark Side has twisted your mind and has made you delusional? Come back to the Light, Coryn… let the Jedi help you before it's too late."

Brower said nothing as she let go of Katrine's hair, and then she took a step back and closed her eyed as she began to chant. It was in a language that was unfamiliar to the Jedi Master, and honestly it sounded like gibberish, but then a foggy green cloud of dark energy began to form around her. The cloud intensified as the red-haired woman chanted, spreading out and engulfing the room until nothing was visible aside from the two of them. A moment later the chanting stopped, and Katrine felt a nameless fear when Brower looked into her eyes.

"I had hoped to gain your knowledge through reason." She calmly explained. "But the Jedi are just as stubborn now as they were back then, so let me show you. Let me show you, Katrine, how I've managed to preserve myself for thousands of years… and how I will continue to do so _long_ after you have been forgotten."

 _Meanwhile, back up above..._

Becca's screams echoed inside the turbolift as the blue and white lightning from Kevrap's hands crackled through her body. She thrashed and flailed around in a futile effort to escape the electrical current, and then at random times the Iridonian would suddenly stop. At this point the Padawan could do little more than gasp and twitch on her own while her body smoldered, and then the torment would resume until the next break. Even if she hadn't already been tortured and weakened, her training in the Force hadn't covered how to defend herself against such a horrible power, leaving her completely at Kevrap's mercy.

"I can't decide which way would be more satisfying." The Iridonian said the next time he stopped. "Either way, you will be bound like a beast and made to serve my _every_ desire, but should it be as my slave, or as my Apprentice? See, I _love_ the idea of selling you after I've destroyed your mind and become bored with your body, but then again, the idea of you serving me willingly is also quite… _arousing_."

Her body was starting to respond more during this unusually long break from the torture, and only now did she notice that the turbolift doors were open. They were back on the top floor of the facility, but what good did that do her? The pain was getting worse now that her nerves had gotten a chance to process what was happening, and she let out a gasping cry of pain the first time she tried to move. Kevrap chuckled quietly as he looked down at her, and Becca winced when he opened his hand, but the lightning never came. Instead he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out of the turbolift.

"Perhaps my Mistress can help me decide." He continued while dragging her down the hall. "She has great power, and maybe she can even…what is _this_?"

The Iridonian hesitated for a second before letting go of her, and when the Padawan managed to look up, she saw that the other turbolift was open as well. But something was wrong; there was a decent size hole in the floor, with the edges glowing dimly as if they had been cut. There was also a familiar looking box in the door-tracks that prevented it from closing again, and Kevrap was moving toward it to investigate, when he suddenly screamed in agony. He was moving past the open door to the mess hall, when the sound of a Lightsaber activating was heard, and then there was a flash of light as a red blade was swung.

The attack came low, slicing neatly through both ankles, and causing the now footless Iridonian to fall on his face. With a growl of anger and pain he grabbed for his Lightsaber, but then the red blade swung again, making Kevrap howl like a trapped animal as his arm was chopped off at the elbow. Rolling onto his back and crying out as his good arm cradled his destroyed one, the Iridonian gasped as he found the tip of the red blade pointed at his throat. Becca also looked at the blade, but then her eyes followed it upward to see that the hilt was held by a heavily wounded Navarro de Liquidis.

"I don't believe we've met." The Sith said as he stepped into the hall. "My name is Navarro, and I'm not having a very good day."

Thin blood was running down his back and legs from when Brower's guards shot him with their blaster rifles, and there was a large cut on his head, probably from falling down the turbolift shaft. Becca was so surprised to see him alive, that she almost hadn't noticed how easily Navarro had been able to take him down, but then her thoughts were interrupted by another scream. In a flash, the red blade arched away from the Iridonian's throat, only to slice off his remaining arm at the elbow. During this whole time Becca had been trying to move enough to either run away or hide, but she had only been able to use a table to pull herself up to her knees by the time Navarro made one last slice of his Lightsaber, cleaving off Kevrap's head before deactivating the weapon.

"And now my day is better." The Sith continued while putting the weapon on his belt and turning toward her. "Which brings us to my favorite young Pada… what the _hell_ happened to _you_?"

Becca felt panic returning as he slowly started toward her, making the Padawan try harder to pull herself up, only to have her hand slip off the table. She hit the floor with a hard _thud_ , and was scrambling to find something else to use as support, but having no luck at all by the time he was standing over her. Then he reached for her, and Becca's body still wasn't responding enough to even kick at him, so she could do nothing but shriek when he picked her up. Well, she could thrash at him a little, but even in his wounded state, this did nothing.

"Don't hurt me!" She screamed as he carried her into the mess hall. "Please, don't hurt me!"

"Quit yelling, damn it." Navarro replied after putting her down roughly on top of a table. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would've made you look like _torso-boy_ out there."

She expected him to hit her or torture her in some way, but instead he walked over to the wall, where a large _First-Aid_ kit was mounted. Opening it and taking out a large injector, there was a _hiss_ as the Sith jammed it right into his neck, and then he sighed with relief before grabbing another one. He seemed to be in less pain and moving around better as he walked back over to her, but she was still scared. After all, if used improperly, a thing like that could hurt her just as easily as help her.

"Relax, it's only _Kolto_." He said before injecting it into her neck. "It's supposed to go in the leg, but I don't have that kind of patience."

There was another hiss as Becca felt the contents of the injector shoot into her body, and then the pain started to lessen, making her sigh with relief just like he had done. This dulling feeling quickly moved throughout her entire system, and soon her arms and legs started to respond better as well. A few moments later the Padawan was able to sit up, but now the situation she was in had changed. Kevrap was dead, and she couldn't be thankful enough for that, but why had this man who had recently been her prisoner help her?

"There, all better." The Sith said before sitting down on a chair in front of where she was sitting. "Now why don't you be a good girl, and tell me what the hell is going on around here?"


	6. Chapter 6 Face of the Enemy

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Six: Face of the Enemy**

It was difficult to explain everything that had happened, but Becca tried her best. She went over Coryn Brower's admission of impersonating the Warden of _Whiteout Colony_ , the death of the Republic Soldiers, and the use of Brower's strange power, all while the Sith listened intently. The Padawan hesitated once she got to the part about Kevrap, since not only was it humiliating to be abused like that, but also because he had successfully enslaved her… and that knowledge made her feel sick.

"Yes, I caught the end of your duel." Navarro replied. "And you're right to be ashamed of yourself, since your weakness cost you both your dignity _and_ your freedom. However, this shame can also strengthen you, and the experience can help mold you into a more capable warrior, if you're strong enough to get through it. Now, what happened to Katrine?"

"They took her away." She explained, fighting off the despair caused by his words. "Brower told Kevrap to meet him on the bottom floor after he was, um… done with me."

Apparently the Sith had heard enough, since he stood up and walked back into the hallway before she was even done talking. Picking up his box of possessions from in the turbolift door, he emptied the contents onto the floor, and quickly put his boots on. Becca followed him a moment after he had got up, and went to retrieve her heavier snow gear while he was putting on his shirt. The thicker layers had pretty much been destroyed by the Iridonian's Lightsaber, aside from her boots, which she put on. But this still left her standing there shivering.

Now that the rush of adrenaline was wearing off from recent events, the cold left her visibly shaking while hugging herself tightly with her arms. Navarro, however, seemed to be doing fine even before he picked up his jacket from the floor, and he was putting it on, when he stopped after looking at her. For a moment nothing was said, but then Becca jumped a little when he took off the jacket and tossed it to her. The Sith then picked up Kevrap's Lightsaber and hung it on his belt, prompting the Padawan to pick up her own fallen weapon after seeing it on the floor.

"Okay, I know you're having a bad day." Navarro explained as she put his jacket on. "But this Brower woman seems very dangerous, and we need to strike while she's distracted by your Master, because she's probably _a lot_ more powerful than Kevrap. Let's go."

He moved into the turbolift, and Becca found herself quickly following. A moment later the doors shut, and they started down.

"The guards will be expecting the Iridonian." He continued. "So surprise will be on our side, but it won't last, so we need to hit them _hard and fast_. I'll take the left, you take the right, and don't stop killing people until we reach your Master… wherever she is. Can I count on you, Padawan?"

Becca nodded in agreement, but everything was happening around her so fast that it was hard for her mind to keep up. In the three years that she had been Master Katrine's Padawan, she had gotten into a few fights, but _certainly_ never had to rush into a place and start killing people. Yet, there she was; standing side by side with a Sith, ready to do whatever it took to save her Master.

"Here we go." Navarro said as the turbolift stopped. "Remember, no mercy… these people probably want to enslave you as well."

Becca swallowed hard as the doors opened, reflexively activating her Lightsaber while Navarro ignited the two in his possessions. She expected to hear some surprised yelling from the guards, followed by a lot of shooting, but this didn't happen. Instead, the guards were just lying on the floor, and this puzzled her until she got a good look at the nearest one's face. It was rotted and sunken in as if the man had been dead for over a month, and this sight made her gasp while stumbling backwards before falling on her rear.

"Great defensive posture." The Sith said as he checked the next one. "This one's dead to; same way… and so is this one. What the hell happened here?"

She wanted to look away, but her eyes were locked onto the poor man's face, refusing to take in anything else. In addition to the rotting, his jaw was opened into what looked like an expression of intense fear or agony, and there Becca sat, with her mouth running dry until another thought broke through her petrification: Her Master was still unaccounted for, so Katrine had to be found before whatever did this to the others happened to her as well. This was enough to get her on her feet, and now she followed Navarro down the hall past more bodies.

"This is… awful." Becca whispered as they moved into the detention area. "What could've done this?"

The Padawan started to say something else, but was suddenly _shushed_ by Navarro as a kind of shuffling sound was heard up ahead. He took cover in the doorway of the first holding cell, and Becca did the same once she realized what he was doing. Up ahead there were a few more bodies lying around, possibly the real staff of the facility, since they weren't wearing any clothes, and past them someone was alive. It was a woman, kneeling over one of the bodies, and apparently going through its pockets.

"Master!" She called as she realized who it was.

Katrine jumped a little when she heard this, and then the Jedi Master seemed even more surprised when she stood up just in time to get a hug from Becca. There were a hundred questions going through the Padawan's mind, like how her Master had escaped and what happened to Brower, but then Becca looked down at the body Katrine had been searching. Even with the sunken and rotted featured, the clothes and red hair gave it away that it was none other than Coryn Brower lying dead on the ground.

"Master, what happened here?" Becca asked as the hug ended.

"I'm really not sure." Katrine replied calmly. "I think she was trying some kind of _ritual_ , but then everyone just… died… including _her_. My restraints shorted out during the flash, so I assume that they protected me somehow."

"Did they?" Navarro asked as he came into view. "Then I suppose that both you and your Padawan should be grateful for Coryn Brower's failure… but there's something about this that…

" _Escort detail, this is the Iceni_." A voice interrupted through her comlink. " _Master Katrine, if you can't answer me, we are going to send reinforcements_."

"Iceni, this is Master Katrine." She quickly replied. "Negative on the reinforcements; we had a situation, but everything is under control now. Katrine out."

Well, this changed everything. If Brower and her minions were all dead, then Navarro was their prisoner again, but it wasn't like they could just leave him there at the colony in its current condition. There was also a good chance that he wouldn't cooperate, on top of him no longer being shackled, and having _two_ Lightsabers. Becca had seen enough fighting on this mission to last her a lifetime, and she just hoped that her Master would be able to negotiate a peaceful resolution.

"Master, Navarro saved my life." Becca made sure to say before anything else could happen. "That Iridonian, Kevrap, was hurting me, and Navarro stopped him. That has to count for something, doesn't it?"

The Padawan seriously didn't want any more fighting to happen today, and she looked up at her Master hopefully, only to have to stop and take a second look when she saw something that couldn't have been there before. So she rubbed her eyes, and looked again, but there it was: A single streak of red had appeared on the side of her normally purple hair, and as hard as she concentrated, Becca just could not remember seeing it before.

"Perhaps it does, Padawan." Katrine replied. "Ms. Brower was willing to risk _everything_ , including her own life, to locate that ancient sword. So, Mr. de Liquidis, if you agree to help us discover what she was after, that, along with the fact that you've saved my Padawan's life, I'm sure that the Jedi Council will show you some leniency."

The appearance of the red streak in her Master's hair was unsettling, but her willingness to offer Navarro a break made her feel better. With a hopeful smile, she turned to him, but the Sith did not share her excitement. He seemed on edge as he looked at Master Katrine, then at the bodies lying around them, and back to her again. He appeared to be trying to either figure something out or remember something, but he must've succeeded because his eyes suddenly widened.

"Becca, could you come over here for a second?" Navarro asked. "I think I'm still a little hurt from getting shot."

There was nothing wrong with his request, since he had taken two blaster bolts to the back at point blank range, so the Padawan was about to go to him, when she saw movement behind her Master. A blaster rifle that was lying on the floor next to one of the dead guards shook for a second, before slowly floating up into the air. Becca was confused by this for a few seconds, but then she gasped when it aimed at Katrine's back.

"Look out!" The Padawan yelled.

The blaster rifle fired almost instantly after the warning left Becca's mouth, but in response, Master Katrine moved faster than she thought possible. She took the Lightsaber off her belt, and activated it in time to deflect the shot, before making a second swing that sliced the rifle in half. Katrine then turned back toward him and thrust out her palm, releasing a visible shockwave that sent Navarro, Becca, and everything else in front of her flying backwards.

Small cracks appeared in the walls as the Padawan and Sith almost reached the turbolift doors before crashing to the floor. Navarro was partially buried by the bodies that came along, and thankfully Becca landed on top, but then she cried out when the bodies were shoved over on top of her while Navarro got to his feet. He had a blaster rifle in each hand, and Katrine was already running toward them, so he tossed them up into the air, where they started firing as he ignited his two Lightsabers.

"No!" Becca yelled as she used the Force to push him. "Navarro, stop it!"

Katrine deflected the shots back at the rifles, destroying them, and then Navarro made two attacks at her, which she easily blocked, before the Padawan's push knocked him off balance. The Sith stumbled forward, his Lightsaber slicing across her jacket pocket and making a datapad fall out before he landed on his knees in front of her. Then the Jedi Master opened her free hand, causing Becca to gasp as a hundred purple energy tendrils shot out, making Navarro scream as they all bit into his body. But how could her Master know how to do that?

From confusion and fear, Becca was paralyzed Katrine grabbed the still kneeling Sith by the front of the shirt. He was gasping and twitching as she pulled him closer, and then she kissed him on the lips before letting go and kicking him in the face. Navarro fell onto his back as Becca ran up to her Master; her behavior had to be a mistake, and she had to get her to calm down and see reason. But before she could say anything, her Master swung her Lightsaber, making Becca cry out as the blade cut across her side.

"Iceni, this is Master Katrine." She said as she walked to the turbolift while Becca fell over. "Prepare for my arrival, and contact the Jedi Council… my Padawan has turned to the Dark Side and helped my prisoner escape."

Becca wanted to protest this, but all that came out of her mouth was an incoherent groan. It was difficult to breathe, and even harder to move, but the Padawan noticed just before the turbolift doors closed, that now over half of her Master's hair had turned red.


	7. Chapter 7 Leaving Hoth

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Seven: Leaving Hoth**

With her vision starting to darken, and her mind confused by the actions of her Master, Becca was comforted only by the icy floor as it slightly dulled the pain in her side. The turbolift doors had closed, and Master Katrine was gone, leaving her alone with Navarro, who was lying motionless a short distance down the hall. It was getting harder to move as the Padawan struggled to crawl toward the closed doors, but she had to keep going, since the remaining med-packs in the kit on the first floor seemed to be her only hope. Unfortunately, her body was betraying her, and she was so tired that she couldn't help closing her eyes for just a moment, but then everything was different.

She suddenly no longer felt cold or fatigued, and in fact, she was warm and the pain had reduced significantly. So Becca opened her eyes to find that everything was blurry, and several streams of bubbles were rising around her. Was she underwater? Touching her face, she found that she was wearing a mask over her nose and mouth, and when she felt around, there was an invisible barrier that kept her from venturing into the area outside, which looked like some kind of laboratory. She was also floating, suspended in the middle of the fluid, and when she looked down, the Padawan reflexively covered herself with her arms when she discovered that she was naked.

It must have been a _Kolto Tank_ that she was inside, which would explain why she was feeling so much better, but then her thoughts were interrupted when she saw movement in the room outside. It was just a shadowy figure at first, but as it approached, she began to make out the form of her former prisoner. He took his time walking up to the tank, and once there he tapped on the glass before waving at her. Well, this was yet another of a series of awkward situations she had experienced today, and now she had to live with the fact that a Sith had seen her without any clothes on.

Navarro then moved around to the controls on the side of the tank, and the fluid began to drain after he pushed one of the buttons, causing Becca to sink with the lowering water level. Soon her feet touched the bottom, and it took a little more effort than expected, but she was able to remain standing until the fluid was gone. The temperature had already started to drop, and frost was forming on the outside of the glass by the time she got the mask off her face. Outside, Navarro pushed another button, causing the tank to open, but now the cold was even worse since her body was soaking wet.

"Here you go." The Sith said as he put a heavy white robe around her. "Prison medical bays don't usually have the best stuff, but it'll keep you warm until you get dried off."

The robe's material was more like a towel than a garment, so it was easy for her to use it to dry off. It had a hood as well, which allowed her to dry her hair off, and now the cold wasn't as bad. Of course, she didn't see her clothes anywhere, and the Padawan found herself blushing from shame as she realized that not only had Navarro seen her naked, but he would have had to undress her as well in order to put her into the tank.

"You took my clothes?" She asked while hugging the robe around her.

"I didn't look, I _swear_." The Sith replied with a slight smirk. "You're cute when you blush, by the way."

This just made her face turn more red, making her have to look away, and Navarro laughed a little as he walked back toward the door. Just outside in the hallway was a set of folded clothes that was sitting on top of a small cargo crate, and the Sith picked them up before bringing them back into the medical bay. They were a heavy material, which the Padawan was grateful for when he handed them to her, and to protect what was left of her modesty, she kept the rope on while she got dressed.

"I got those from the Warden's office." He explained as she laced up the boots. "You and her looked about the same size, and I guess I was right. Come on, we gotta get this box up to the landing pad."

"The landing pad?" Becca asked. "But why? And… what happened to my Master?"

Navarro just shook his head as she tied her hair up into her usual ponytail, and now the Padawan was getting nervous. Master Katrine's behavior was still unexplained, and she had obviously gotten into contact with the _Iceni_ , meaning that in the time it took to use a Kolto Tank, the Republic Soldiers could have easily landed and recaptured the prisoner. But so far she had seen no evidence of any of this happening, so did that mean that she had simply been _abandoned_ on this ice world?

"You're Master's gone, Becca." Navarro said bluntly. "I think it was Coryn Brower that attacked us; the bodies, Brower herself being dead, and Katrine's new hairstyle all point to an ancient technique known as the _Essence Transfer_ , forbidden even by the Sith. It requires sacrifices, and kills the caster, but allows her spirit to hijack another sentient's body. It also always leaves a trait of the original body, no matter how many times it's used."

This was a lot for Becca to process, and her first instinct was to accuse him of lying. However, she hadn't been paying attention at the time, but looking back, she _had_ felt something through the Force that wasn't right about her Master. Then the Jedi Master's behavior had changed completely, and her use of Brower's abilities only added more evidence against her, topped off by the most obvious, and heartbreaking evidence of all…

"Her hair." The Padawan said quietly as her eyes began to water. "Her hair was turning red… just like Brower."

"I'm really sorry, Becca, but we need to think of ourselves now." Navarro continued. "Brower probably headed to _Coruscant_ to get my sword for whatever reason she wanted it, which gives _us_ plenty of time to get away before she decides to come back and finish us off."

Becca was still trying to figure out everything in her mind when he moved back into the hallway, but whether or not his accusations about her Master were true, she didn't want to be left alone. She caught up to him when he stopped to use the Force to make the cargo crate float about a foot off the ground, and she continued to follow him down the hall and back into the turbolift. Since they were already on the second floor, it only took a few seconds to reach the top, and the doors opened to reveal the same wrecked area where she had tried to fight off Kevrap. In fact, the Iridonian's body was still lying in pieces near the mess hall, making her have to look away as they moved toward the other turbolift.

"I sense great _fear_ in you, Becca." Navarro said as they walked. "Here, this might make you feel better."

Reaching under his coat, he took her Lightsaber off his belt and tossed it to her. The Sith was right, having her weapon back was making her feel better, but why was he being so nice to her? But more importantly, why were they going back up to the landing pad? Katrine had surely taken the shuttle when she left, and no one outside of the _Jedi Council_ knew this facility's location, so what were they going to do. The turbolift doors closed once they were inside, and the dread Becca felt about returning to the planet's surface seemed to make the trip go by faster.

As before, the doors opened to reveal the blue and white surface of _Hoth_ , and the cold was absolutely killing her, but there was no ship waiting for them. Undeterred by this, Navarro floated the cargo crate outside, and looked around as if he was expecting one to land somehow. Becca was about to suggest that they go back inside, when she was interrupted by the sound of approaching sub-light engines. A small brown and white freighter then came into view, its engines powering down as it landed in the same place the shuttle had been, and Navarro started toward it even before the loading ramp was finished opening.

"Right on time." The Sith said as Becca followed him across the snow. "I _love_ punctuality in a woman… don't you?"

The Padawan wasn't sure how to respond to that as they moved toward the ship, but right now all she could think about was getting onboard, where hopefully the heaters worked. They were just about to the ramp, when a figure in black snow gear appeared at the top. From their shape and the way their hips moved, she could tell it was a woman, and when she reached them, she took off her hood to reveal that she was a purple skinned Twi'Lek. Her head-tails were twisted together behind her to form a kind of braid, but Becca stopped noticing these details when she walked up to Navarro, and they kissed.

This wasn't just a friendly peck, but a passionate embrace that was distracting enough so that the floating cargo crate fell to the ground. For a minute Becca didn't think they were ever going to stop, but then they finally did, and the Twi'Lek looked at the crate. She walked over to it and opened the lid, reaching in and taking out what looked like a droid part of some kind. She looked at a couple more, and then put them back before replacing the lid.

"Is that it?" She asked while moving back to him. "It doesn't look like much, was it worth getting yourself captured and sent here?"

"It sure was." Navarro replied. "But someone took it apart, so you're going to have to assemble it yourself. Oh, and this is Becca Antilles. Becca, meet Feen Sinya; we've all got a lot to talk about, but we need to get off this planet _now_."

Feen looked Becca up and down before giving her a weak smile, and then Navarro floated the cargo crate up the ramp as they all boarded. The Padawan sighed with relief when the ramp closed behind them, and she felt a strong surge of warm air, meaning that the heaters on this ship worked just fine. Not only that, but everything in the place seemed to be in top working order; the whole place was spotless, there weren't any smudges on the monitors, and the floor plating was shiny as they walked into a large common room at the center of the ship.

"Wow, look at this place." Navarro said as he looked around. "You said you could find a new ship, but this is _incredible_ , Feen."

"I know, right?" The Twi'Lek replied as they turned and went into another hallway. "I got this one straight off the assembly line; it's a brand new _Dynamic Class Freighter_ , made by _Core Galaxy Systems' Z_ product line. It's got _Quad-Lasers_ , _Proton Torpedoes_ , _Anti-Personnel Turrets_ , and a _Hyper-drive_ that probably isn't legal on ships this small. And it's gotta be a custom job, because they already named it."

There was a plaque on the wall with the words _EBON HAWK_ written into the top along with a list of names that were probably the engineers, and then the hallway ended at a decent size cockpit that was equipped with four seats. Feen got into the pilot's position, with Navarro taking the co-pilot's seat next to her. Becca was about to take the seat behind him, but stopped when she saw that it was already occupied by a large black and red object that was shaped like a pyramid. She had seen such devices like this before, but the Holocrons that belonged to the Jedi were all shaped like cubes, meaning that this one was different.

"Buckle-up, Becca." Navarro said.

There was no choice but to do what he said for now, so she got into the other seat and buckled herself in just as the engines fired up. Then they took off, and even with the unexpected power of the engines pushing her back into her seat, Becca had never been so happy to see a planet vanish from sight as they left its atmosphere and moved back into space.


	8. Chapter 8 Judgement

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Eight: Judgement**

After leaving the _Hoth Six_ behind, Feen put in a set of coordinates for a jump to light speed, and then the stars became elongated as the Ebon Hawk entered the familiar blue tunnel known as hyperspace. Once done, she put the ship on autopilot, and then turned in her chair so that she was facing both Becca and Navarro. As for Becca, the reality of her situation was finally setting in; she had been betrayed and abandoned by her Master, and now she was on a stolen starship with a known Sith and a Twi'Lek who as far as the Padawan could tell, was his girlfriend.

"So how did you hook up with _her_?" Feen asked while nodding toward Becca. "I don't recall your plan involving picking up pretty little blonde humans."

"Go easy on her, Feen." Navarro replied. "She's had a rough day."

The Sith then began to recount recent events to her, beginning with apparently _allowing_ himself to be captured by Master Katrine, and then moving into every detail of what happened at _Whiteout Colony_. He covered his own near death experiences, Becca's torture at the hands of Kevrap, and even his suspicions that Coryn Brower had stolen Katrine Secura's body. The Twi'Lek seemed unmoved by most of the tale, but then her gaze softened a bit during the part about the Iridonian enslaving Becca through torture.

"I need to speak with my Master." The Sith continued. "Feen, can you show Becca around… I have a feeling she's going to be here with us for a while."

"Of course." The Twi'Lek replied as she stood up. "Come on, dear, let's get something to eat, and then I'll show you to your quarters."

Still nervous about her surroundings, as well as her current company, Becca figured that it was best to just go along with everything, at least until she could contact the _Jedi Council_. Feen led her back into the large common room, and motioned for her to sit down while she went over to a small door off to the side of the cockpit hallway. The room inside looked like it had once been a storeroom, but had been converted into a small kitchen, where the Twi'Lek poured them each a cup of a brown liquid. When she came back, she set one of the cups down in front of Becca, and after a hesitation, she took a sip.

"You're not alone in this, Becca." Feen said while putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know what it's like to have your freedom taken away, and to be abused like property. So if you ever want to talk… I'm here for you."

"Thank you." She replied while taking another sip.

The drink was bitter, and had a strong smell that she wasn't sure how she felt about, but it was hot, and that was what Becca wanted the most after being on that ice-hole. It was also comforting to know that she was with someone who understood what Kevrap had tried to do to her, although she wouldn't have wished that knowledge on _anyone_. Right now she just wanted to put her mind on other things, but maybe one day she would want to confide in Feen. Of course, by the time that day came, she would probably no longer be traveling with them, but it was nice, just the same.

After their drinks were finished, Feen gave her a quick tour of the ship. Aside from the cockpit, common room, and kitchen, there was also a security room, turret access, a cargo hold, a workshop that housed two _swoop bikes_ , and finally the sleeping quarters. The quarters on the port side appeared to already be occupied, and Becca assumed that Navarro and the Twi'Lek would be sharing it since it held possessions that the Padawan assumed belonged to each of them. Her quarters were on the starboard side of the ship, and were identical to the other one, just without anything inside to suggest ownership.

" _Whew_ , it's too hot in here for this snow gear." Feen said while wiping her forehead. "We should probably get changed… but you probably don't have anything else to wear, huh?"

"No, I don't." Becca replied. "All of my things were left onboard the _Iceni_."

Again, the Twi'Lek looked her up and down, and this time she took the Padawan by the hand. She walked so quickly back to her quarters that Becca had trouble keeping up, and then Feen quickly selected a set of clothes from her wardrobe. She handed them to her, and then selected another set for herself, not hesitating for a moment before stripping out of her snow gear and into a set of much more revealing dark gray clothes. The Twi'Lek's outfit now included boots with short-heels, pants that were so tight-fitting they looked like they were painted on, and a top that showed both her cleavage as well as her midriff.

Again finding herself becoming jealous of Feen's beauty just as she had done about her Master's, Becca tried to ignore this feeling as she too got changed. Apparently the Padawan was a very common size, since the Twi'Lek's clothes fit her just as well as the snow gear she had taken from Brower, but then she became uncomfortable as she realized she was wearing the exact same, and just as revealing outfit that Feen was. The purple Twi'Lek pulled it off a lot better, but the Jedi practiced modesty, so being exposed at all was uncomfortable. But, at least she didn't have to wear that snow gear anymore.

"Um… thank you, Feen." Becca said as she pulled her hair up into the usual ponytail. "I really, um… don't know what to say."

"Feen! Becca! I think you'll want to see this!" Navarro's voice interrupted.

The Twi'Lek immediately left the room, and the Padawan followed, moving a bit more slowly, and trying to find a less awkward way to cover her cleavage and midriff with her arms as she walked. Back in the common room, Navarro was sitting at the center console where she and Feen had shared the drink, and he was watching what looked like a news broadcast via the holo-image generated at the middle. Feen sat down right next to him, and Becca joined them while keeping her distance.

" _And in other news, disaster on the outer rim_." The image of the newscaster spoke. " _Whiteout Colony, the secretive penal installation, was destroyed yesterday during an escape attempt by Navarro de Liquidis, the notorious criminal who was recently apprehended by Jedi Master Katrine Secura. According to reports, the entire staff of the colony was wiped out when Katrine's Padawan, Becca Antilles, revealed that she had fallen to the Dark Side. Navarro was freed during the resulting chaos, and although apparently injured, Master Katrine is expected to make a full recovery. When asked for further comments, the Jedi Council had this to say_."

" _It is regrettable to hear of Padawan Becca's fall_." The image said as it switched to the tiny form of Master Vandar. " _Many Jedi have shared this fate since the war with Exar Kun began, and I fear that she will not be the last_."

The newscast continued after that, but Becca found herself unable to concentrate on it. The only way for the Council to think that she had fallen to the Dark Side was if her Master told them, and that was a lie. The last bit of hope that Katrine had not been taken over by Brower was starting to fade away, and then her mind became clear again. If her Master was now really an ancient Sith Lord, then the Council was in just as much danger as she was, and it was her duty to warn them.

"I need to contact the Jedi." The Padawan said. "Feen, does this ship have long range communication?"

"It does." The Twi'Lek answered. "Just use the controls over there to set the frequency and location."

Becca only knew the frequency and location to contact the _Jedi Academy_ on _Dantooine_ , so it would have to do. Sliding down the table to the controls, she couldn't focus on anything but warning them. She had no idea what she was going to say, nor did she know how to explain anything that happened. Part of her hoped that no one would answer so that she could have more time to prepare herself, but then the console went _beep_ just before the images of Master Vandar and a human male that she didn't recognize appeared.

"Master Vandar, this is Padawan Becca Antilles." She said urgently as she stood up. "Can you hear me?"

" _Becca_?!" The young man exclaimed. " _Master, isn't she the one who fell to the Dark Side?!_ "

" _Calm yourself, Padawan Vrook_." Vandar replied. " _I believe this to be a conversation best conducted in private._ "

Vrook bowed before his image walked beyond the range of the transmission, and during this time Becca tried her best to come up with a logical way to explain everything, but she just couldn't. She had actually hoped that Vrook would argue with his Master about staying, but of course he did not. That kind of obedience was probably looked on as a good thing by the Jedi, but in this case it really annoyed her.

" _I am surprised to hear from you, Becca_." Vandar continued. " _Master Katrine gave us a detailed report of your disappointing actions on Hoth_."

"Master, those accusations are a lie!" Becca yelled. "I haven't fallen to the Dark Side, and I didn't help Navarro escape! Something… something happened to my Master while we were at the colony, but I don't know how to explain it."

The Padawan knew that the Council would automatically believe a Master's word over hers, but she still had to try. After all, Katrine, or Brower, whoever she was could have been on the way to the Jedi Archives at that very moment.

" _You claim to have not helped Navarro escape_?" Master Vrook replied. " _Then it is very strange company that you keep, young Padawan_. _Almost as strange as your manner of dress; common with those Jedi Knights who seek rebellion of all kinds from the Jedi Code after they fall_."

"Your Padawan didn't help me." Navarro interrupted while moving closer. "In fact, she almost got me killed, but trust me, she's no Sith. She's just as weak and frail as the rest of your Order, but she's telling the truth about Katrine. Her body has been taken over by one of the original Sith Lords, and you should detain her immediately."

Master Vandar's image just looked at him in silence for several seconds, and Becca hoped that somehow either through the Force or by his own wisdom, he would be able to detect the sincerity of what they were telling him. After all, the Padawan had known Vandar ever since her first day of Youngling training, and he was always such a calm and focused teacher that he just _had_ to know it was the truth.

" _I want to believe you, young Padawan_." Vandar's image replied. " _But deception and trickery are common tools of the Dark Side. That… and I have never seen a Sith rush to the aid of a Jedi_. _So, no, young Padawan, Master Katrine will not be detained, and you must surrender to us. I am transmitting coordinates for a mining colony on the planet Peragus Two, and there you will hand over your Lightsaber to the Jedi Knights that meet you. So consider yourself under arrest, Becca… I am sorry that it has come to this_."

The transmission ended, and Becca just sat there staring wide-eyed as if the image was still there. They really thought that she was evil, and that she betrayed Master Katrine, and now she was going to be treated like a prisoner. She tried to hold her composure while taking a breath, but then the tears started, and her breathing became a rapid gasping sound as she put her head down on the console. For a moment her mind told her that this couldn't be happening, but it was, and Feen put a comforting hand on her shoulder, which just made the Padawan sob harder.


	9. Chapter 9 Breen Atroma-Lyn

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Nine: Breen Atroma-Lyn**

How had it come to this, Becca wondered. How had such a normal mission with her Master turned into such a Mynok nest of insanity? Only yesterday she had been just like every other Padawan, maybe a bit of a late bloomer, but well on her way to becoming a Jedi Knight one day. But now that was all gone, or at least her prospects of getting back on that path were looking pretty grim. She didn't blame Master Vandar for not believing her, since honestly if she hadn't seen everything with her own eyes, she probably wouldn't have believed it either.

So there she was, a passenger onboard a freighter that was owned by a Sith, something that didn't exactly help her case with the Jedi. After the communication with Master Vandar had ended, Becca asked to be taken to _Peragus_ , and was surprised when Feen and Navarro agreed to take her there, but only _if that was really what she wanted_. Soon the new course was charted, but it would take a while to get there, so the Padawan decided to go to bed. She wanted to be alone for a while so that she could gather her thoughts, but her attempt at meditation was unsuccessful, as was the attempt at sleeping.

A few hours went by with her laying on the small bed in a fetal position, sometimes crying, and sometimes so scared about what was going to happen to her that she shook a little. It was as if her mind was intentionally torturing her with memories of _Hoth_ , so she decided that maybe a walk around the ship would do her some good. Before going to bed, she had found another of those towel-like robes in the _Ebon Hawk's_ medical bay, so she pulled it around herself, and left her quarters.

The ship was eerily quiet, and most of the lights had been turned off, leaving the only illumination coming from the many control panels and monitors along the walls. It was enough to see her way around, but it also formed flickering shadows, which made the hairs on her neck stand on end. Becca had always been afraid of the dark, although she would never admit to something like that, since the Jedi had never thought very highly of her in the first place. Not that she was a poor learner or anything, but she lacked the potential and skills of some of the others such as Padawans Dorak and Bindo, who were often publicly praised by their Masters.

The Padawan was about to head into the small kitchen for more of that bitter brown liquid, when she heard something. It was barely audible over the rumbling of the ship's engines which could be felt through her feet, and it seemed to be coming from down the hall across from her. Moving a little closer, she realized that it was music, and that it was coming from the quarters shared by the others. Becca knew that it was probably rude to go sticking her nose into things, but her curiosity got the better of her, and before she knew it, she was down the hall, peeking around the corner just enough to see without being spotted herself.

The lights were on, but they had been heavily dimmed, and the first thing she saw was Navarro sitting in a chair. His arms were behind his head, and a wide smile was across his face as he watched Feen intently. The Twi'Lek was dancing in front of him, moving with the beat of the music as she kicked out her legs and whipped her head-tails around. It then occurred to Becca that she was intruding on a private moment, so she backed away down the hall as quietly as she came, until she was back in the common room.

" _Becca_." A soft female voice whispered.

Gasping and spinning around, the Padawan wasn't sure who or what she was expecting to be there, but there was no one to be found. She was alone in the common room, and aside from the music and rumbling of the engines, the _Ebon Hawk_ was quiet. Maybe it was fear of being discovered by Navarro and Feen, or perhaps her childhood fear of the dark was getting the better of her; either way her need to walk around the ship was satisfied, so she decided to head back to her quarters.

" _Becca_." The voice whispered again. "Becca Antilles… come to me."

Now she definitely knew that she had heard it, and since it spoke more this time, she was able to tell that it was coming from the direction of the cockpit. With less monitors and panels on the wall, the cockpit hallway looked even more frightening than the others, and for a moment the Padawan considered retrieving her Lightsaber before proceeding. Of course, she didn't want to disturb the others with either the light or the sound of it activating, so Becca swallowed hard before starting down the hall.

Passing the security room, she began to notice a faint red light coming from up ahead, so she rounded the corner, and quickly discovered the source. The red portions of the pyramid-shaped device in the seat were now glowing just enough to illuminate the cockpit, and as she approached, the light seemed to intensify ever so slightly. Back at the _Jedi Academy_ , she had been allowed to interact with a _Holocron_ once, but it had glowed blue, and had made her feel at ease… unlike this one.

"Hello?" She whispered.

" _Hello, Becca_." The voice replied, the red light flashing along with the words. " _I am very pleased to meet you… I have sensed your distress and fear from the moment you boarded this vessel, but I assure you, child… that you are quite safe here_. _Much safer that you would be, shall we say, in the hands of your Jedi Masters?_ "

Was this Holocron referring to her anxiety about surrendering herself to the Jedi on Peragus? But why was she even nervous about that in the first place? After all, the Council was made up of the wisest and most knowledgeable Jedi, so they were certain to see through Brower's lies once she told them the whole story about what happened. And besides, all of Coryn Brower's abilities were of the Dark Side, and they were sure to see that, even if they somehow didn't believe her. Of course, all these thoughts were making her ignore the most obvious question that she should have been asking.

"Who are you?" Becca asked.

" _My name is, or rather was, Breen Atroma-Lyn_." The Holocron replied. " _I am the imprinted knowledge, memories, and essence of what you would refer to as the former Dark Lady of the Sith. I know that your Jedi training compels you to fear and mistrust me, but I must still advise you against meeting the Jedi on Peragus_."

So this thing really _was_ a Sith Holocron. Breen was right, this revelation did in fact cause the Padawan to both fear and mistrust her, but she shouldn't have been surprised to find such a thing onboard the _Ebon Hawk_ , being that the vessel was owned by a Sith Warrior. The part that _did_ surprise her was that this was the second Sith to treat her nicely, when everything she had been taught told her to expect otherwise. Kevrap had certainly fit the bill, with his cruelty and obvious rage, but Navarro seemed more calm and in control. Was it all a trick? Were these Sith trying to manipulate her somehow?

"But I have to go to _Peragus_." The Padawan explained. "The Council has ordered me to surrender to them there, and it's the only way I'll ever be able to convince them that I haven't done the things I've been accused of."

" _All must choose their own path in the end, child_." Breen's voice said. " _I will not force you to deviate from yours, but know that I foresee great suffering on that dead world. The future is always changing and can be difficult to see, but I know that if you set foot on Peragus, you will face a trial that no Jedi is prepared to face._ "

There was no way to hide the fear that welled up inside her as the Holocron spoke these words, but it was so hard to tell whether or not it was a deception. Everyone knew that both Jedi and Sith were capable of seeing brief glimpses of the future, but what would be the point of warning her? The Sith hated and sought the destruction of the Jedi, so if she was going to suffer, the obvious thing for Breen to do would be to allow her to walk right into it. All these conflicting viewpoints made Becca's head hurt; everything had been so simple before the mission to _Hoth_ , and now nothing made sense.

" _I am not here to deceive you, child_." Breen's voice continued. " _If I wished you harm, I could easily have my Apprentice handle that, but you are a guest here, after all, so that would be rude. Besides, Navarro thinks that you can be saved, and a good Master does not simply dismiss the opinions of their student_."

"Saved?" The Padawan replied with genuine confusion. "Saved from what?"

Navarro had already saved her life twice, so that couldn't be it, and in spite of what Master Katrine, or Coryn Brower, or whoever she was now said, Becca had not fallen to the Dark Side. Or perhaps Breen was referring to the vision of the future that she had just described, and Navarro agreed that the Padawan should avoid it. Not that it was a good idea to defy the wishes of the Council, even if she wanted to. Then again, according to them, she shouldn't be talking to a Sith Holocron, either.

" _From the teachings of the Jedi, of course_." The Holocron answered. " _Their flawed teachings lead the strongest of them into pride and arrogance, which so often leads to their corruption, as is the case with Exar Kun. And flawed Jedi make flawed Sith, who succumb to their base urges for violence and domination. Fools… a true Lord of the Dark Side seeks not the domination of others, but instead the domination of self. The weakest Sith become little more than violent animals, just as the most foolish Jedi become ignorant hypocrites. The best case for this being how your Masters continue to ignore your warnings_."

"No, you're wrong." Becca argued. "The Masters on the Council are wise and understanding; they only don't believe me because they don't have all the facts yet, just as I wouldn't if I hadn't seen it for myself. That's why I have to go to _Peragus_ … so that I can prove my innocence, and get help to stop that evil woman from… whatever it is she's trying to do."

It was probably a bad idea to be arguing with a Sith like this, since like the Holocron said, she could have Navarro kill her at any time, but the Padawan wasn't about to just sit there and listen to her badmouth the teachings of the Jedi like that. The Order was her whole life, her family, and nothing could be said that would make Becca believe that they would condemn her based on a lie.

" _Then we shall go to Peragus_." The Holocron said. " _As I said, you will face a great trial upon that dead world, and I suggest that you get some rest while you can. Sleep, meditate, and gather your wits, because I know that you will need to be at your best for what is to come. You may take your leave now, child… and Becca… may the Force be with you_."


	10. Chapter 10 Peragus Two

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Ten: Peragus Two**

Although still a little uncomfortable in the kind of clothes that Feen had loaned her, Becca realized that it was between them and the towel-robe, so she tried her best to get past this temporary lack of modesty. Of course, as she looked into the mirror, the Padawan had to admit that she looked pretty good in them, but the Jedi Knights who were waiting to arrest her would probably not care too much. Then the anxiety over having to turn herself in returned, but this was unfounded since it wasn't like the Jedi were going to kill her.

In fact, the Jedi _never_ killed their prisoners, no matter what their crimes. It was actually a good thing that she was going to be taken right to the Council, since this would give her a better chance to explain what happened on _Hoth_ , but the warning that she had received from Breen Atroma-Lyn's Holocron kept replaying in her mind. What kind of trial could be waiting for her when all she had to do was hand over her Lightsaber? Maybe something was going to happen before the Jedi got there to meet her? Or maybe the Sith Holocron was simply trying to deceive her.

Feen was already awake when Becca walked down the hall from her quarters; sparks flying from the workbench as the purple Twi'Lek labored to piece together what looked like a pair of black droid legs. Once her current welds were finished, Feen left the parts alone so that they could cool, and gave Becca a friendly nod before heading back into the common room. There she sat at the center console, and picked up a datapad, apparently rotating back and forth between whatever these two tasks were for.

"We're only about an hour from _Peragus_." She said as Becca took one of the nearby seats. "Have you figured out what you're going to tell the Jedi yet?"

"I'm still trying to understand it all, myself." The Padawan replied. "What are you working on?"

It was a sudden topic shift that probably seemed forced, but Becca didn't want to talk about the Jedi or her possibly possessed Master at the moment. What she needed was something normal to get her mind off things long enough to try and center herself, even if it was only for a few moments. That, and she was genuinely curious about what kind of droid the Twi'Lek was building. All she had seen of it so far were the legs, but the feet had multiple joints, meaning that whatever it was, it was probably highly mobile.

"Right now I'm trying to figure out this datapad." Feen explained. "Your Master dropped it during the fight, and Navarro asked me to see what I can do with it, but it's not so easy. I partially deciphered one part already, but I think I made a mistake… either that, or the data is incomplete, even when translated."

"That doesn't sound like something Master Katrine would carry." Becca replied. "She always struggled with alien languages, and she never said anything about that datapad to me before, so it probably belonged to Coryn Brower."

Well, so much for avoiding the topic of her Master, but even with Katrine being brought up again, helping Feen was as good a distraction as any. Tilting her head to see the screen, the Padawan was met with a confusing sec of symbols the likes of which she had never seen before. There were a couple pieces of the data stream that had been translated into _Galactic Basic_ , but those parts appeared to be random numbers. Well, the Twi'Lek certainly had her work cut out for her.

"You're probably right, but it's still gonna take a while to figure out." Feen said. "And in the meantime, I'm building an _HK-02_."

"What's that?" Becca asked. "Some kind of battle droid?"

The Twi'Lek started to answer, but instead took a second datapad out of her pocket and plugged it into the center console. Like the galactic map and the transmission from Master Vandar, a flickering blue and white image of a droid appeared, but the Padawan had never seen one quite like this. It was big, and heavily armored, but also appeared to be far more dexterous than and battle droid that she had encountered. The face was also frightening, the way the eyes glowed and the face was a flat plate.

"It's an _assassin droid_." Feen explained proudly. "The series 01 malfunctioned and caused a full out _droid rebellion_ a few years back, but _Czerka Corporation_ worked really hard to fix that problem with this new prototype. I can't wait till he's finished, but just like with the datapad, it's going to take a while. His systems and circuits are pretty advanced, but as with any machine, they are most vulnerable to damage while in pieces."

The idea of a droid like that made Becca a little uncomfortable, but then again, she was on a ship that belonged to a Sith, so she couldn't really expect the Twi'Lek to have been building a _protocol droid_ or anything. The Padawan was about to ask more about it, but they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps as the again shirtless Navarro entered the common room. He stopped only long enough to give Feen a kiss on the cheek, and Becca found herself watching him intently as he continued on his way toward the cockpit.

The man was a dangerous Sith Warrior who easily sliced up people that Becca couldn't even stand against, and all of her Jedi training told her to be on her guard, but he was also very attractive in spite of the burns and scars that decorated his torso. Twice he had saved her life, and as far as she knew, he was the only man who had ever seen what she looked like without any clothes on. He had smiled at her a little before vanishing down the hallway, and this caused a smile of her own to form, until she was brought back into the moment when Feen snapped her fingers in front of the Padawan's face.

"Becca, let me clear up something for you." The Twi'Lek said with a serious tone. "You are welcome here, and I want us to be friends, but that's _my_ man that you were just drooling over."

"Feen, I'm _so_ sorry." Becca replied urgently. "I didn't mean to look at him like that, I _swear_ , I didn't."

There was a knot forming in her stomach as she looked at the annoyed Twi'Lek, and she really hadn't meant to stare. While among only Jedi, or during missions with her Master, Becca's thoughts had always been focused on either behaving or completing her assigned tasks, but here on this ship there wasn't really anyone around to tell her what to do, so she allowed herself to be distracted. Romantic relationships were not allowed within the Order, and even _thoughts_ about them were heavily discouraged, so it wasn't like she had any plans to steal Navarro from her. Not that the Padawan would stand a chance if they competed.

"Becca, it's okay." Feen suddenly said while putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know Navarro is attractive, and I'd probably think there was something wrong with you if you _didn't_ look, but… I get a little possessive, so just… try to keep your tongue in your mouth next time, huh?"

Becca nodded, and as far as she could tell, the incident was forgotten, but the Padawan still felt kind of awkward around her for the next hour until they reached the _Peragus System_. Having all gathered in the cockpit, and Navarro finally having gotten dressed all the way, Feen dropped the _Ebon Hawk_ out of hyperspace, and they found themselves approaching a dull brown and black planet. There were tiny dots of light scattered across the surface, with nothing large enough to be considered a city, but there _were_ a few town-size facilities that kind of reminded her of _Whiteout Colony_.

" _Unidentified vessel, this is Peragus Sector Fifty-Five Control_." A voice said over the comm. " _Your ship does not appear on our list of expected arrivals, please state your cargo and current destination_."

" _Conceal your identity, Navarro_." The Holocron replied. " _Tell them the truth, but only as much as is needed to gain landing clearance_."

"Yes, Master." Navarro answered before pushing the comm button. "Control, this is the _Ebon Hawk_ ; no cargo, we're here on Jedi business, and we're requesting permission to land."

There were a few moments of silence as they waited for a further reply, but in this time Becca felt a chill while looking at the planet. Something felt wrong to her about this place, but she couldn't place it. It was more like a feeling than something she knew for certain, but that could have just been from the Holocron's earlier warning. But the feeling didn't go away as they got closer to the planet's surface, making the Padawan have to consider that Breen Atroma-Lyn had been telling the truth.

" _Ah, yes, I believe we have been expecting you_." The voice continued. " _Your vessel has been cleared for landing on pad six… do not deviate from your current course_."

"Thank you." Navarro said. " _Ebon Hawk_ out."

Feen did as the control voice instructed, keeping the ship on its current course, and causing them to eventually approach one of the larger facilities toward the southern hemisphere of the planet. A huge pressure hatch had to open to give the _Ebon Hawk_ access to the designated landing pad, probably because this planet didn't have an atmosphere. At least it didn't _appear_ to have one as they hovered above the hatch before ascending, and the heavy shutter slowly closed again behind them once they were through. It was more like an airlock than a hanger bay, Becca thought while hissing jets of gas were pumped into the room as they finished landing, and Feen's control panels registered a fully breathable by the time the engines powered down.

"Well, this is it." Navarro said. "Peragus Two… a large group of Jedi shouldn't be too hard to find."

"I think I should meet them alone." Becca interrupted. "The Council already thinks that I've fallen to the Dark Side, and I don't think it will help my case if I show up with a Sith."

"The child is correct." The Holocron added. "The Jedi are paranoid, and even more so when confronted with something they do not understand. Becca, I wish you luck on this path, and you have my permission to depart. Navarro, I believe we are in need of fuel, and Feen… you will procure and supplies we may need while we have this chance."

"Yes, Master." Navarro and Feen said in unison.

Becca only had the clothes on her back and the Lightsaber she was wearing, so there was no need to pack anything for her trip back to _Dantooine_. Navarro carried only his Lightsaber as well, with Feen giving contrast to the group by wearing a large blaster pistol in each of her two hip holsters. Nothing really needed to be said as they waited for the ramp to lower, and then there was a stale taste in the Padawan's mouth when they left the atmosphere of the ship. She had expected someone to be there to greet them, from customs or something, but they were alone.

"I guess we're supposed to let ourselves in." Feen suggested.

Navarro shrugged, and then moved toward the only door in sight, with Becca and the Twi'Lek following quickly after. Still no one came to greet them, even after the Sith operated the controls, causing the large door to cycle open. A few flickering lights came on as they stepped inside, but even when they passed into the first hallway of the facility, it appeared that the planet _Peragus_ had fallen silent.


	11. Chapter 11 Sector Fifty Five

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Eleven: Sector Fifty Five**

Figuring that this was a small operation with an even smaller staff, it made sense that no one would be around to greet them if everyone was busy, so Feen, Navarro, and Becca went their separate ways after finding a directory sign. Becca headed toward the hub point for all the landing pads, since that was the most likely place to find others who were also visiting the planet, and Navarro headed for the fuel depot, leaving Feen to make her way toward the living quarters. This was the most likely area to find a store, or at least directions to one, so the Twi'Lek continued to follow the signs.

So far she had still not seen anyone else around, and aside from the constant sound of the air scrubbers, the facility was silent. There must've been some kind of power rationing in effect, since the lights only came on when she moved into a new section of the corridor, and turned off again once she moved on, which also made it easy to tell if anyone was sneaking up on her, which they weren't. This place was incredibly quiet, but it was also clean, meaning that there had been people, or at least cleaning droids through there recently. The corridor ended at a turbolift after the next corner, so she got in, and it took her to a lower level.

"Navarro, have you found anyone?" She asked into the comm. "This place looks dead."

" _Nothing_." His voice replied. " _Maybe this part of the facility hasn't been staffed yet_."

According to the signs, she was now in the living area, so Feen expected to find people walking around when the turbolift doors opened, but again the place was empty. The Twi'Lek's footsteps echoed as she moved past an open dormitory access corridor, and taking a brief look inside, she found that the open apartments inside were also deserted. The next dormitory set was abandoned as well, meaning that either this facility had the smallest skeleton crew ever created, or something was very, _very_ wrong in this place. Then a glimmer of hope appeared when she found a door labeled _Cantina_ , and Feen figured that if there was anywhere in this facility to find people, this was it.

The door opened with a _hiss_ , and the lights flickered on when she entered, allowing that glimmer of hope to shatter as the door closed behind her. The cantina was just as empty as the rest of the place, but maybe a quick look around would give her a clue as to what was happening. The setup was pretty standard; a fully stocked bar, some gambling tables, and even a stage for performers. At the center of the stage was a metal pole that was obviously made for dancers, the sight of which making her scoff while some rather unpleasant memories flashed through her mind.

There was obviously nothing there to help her, so she turned around, only to gasp as she saw a red Lightsaber activate, the tip of the blade now at her throat. Following the blade back to the hilt, she found that it was being held by an angry looking Gungan in a black robe. Keeping the blade in position, and his eyes never losing her gaze, the Gungan took her blaster pistols out of their holsters before tossing them across the room.

"You'sa mus be Feen Sinya." He said with an angry tone. "Me'sa _Darth Bombad_ , apprentice to tha _mighty_ Sith Lord Ulic Qel-Droma. We'sa here for you'sa boyfriend, Navarro, so you'sa start talkin unless you'sa wanna _die_."

 _Meanwhile, near the fuel depot…_

The planet _Peragus Two_ was famous for being a low-grade fuel depot for essentially everything within twelve parsecs of the system, and not much else, so it was ridiculous for a facility like this to be so quiet and empty. He hadn't seen anyone since splitting off from the group, which would be fine with a small staff, since they might have all been working in the fuel depot, but after taking the turbolift down into the area where all the work would be done, the Sith found it to be just as empty.

" _Navarro, have you found anyone_?" Feen's voice asked over the comm. " _This place looks dead_."

"Nothing." He replied. "Maybe this part of the facility hasn't been staffed yet."

Everything was clean and in working order, meaning that it couldn't have been abandoned for long, but all the refinement and storage machines were cold and silent, meaning that it had been at least a day since they were ran. It was kind of creepy how the lights only came on when he entered a new area, meaning that he was pretty well alone in this gigantic fuel processing plant he began to sense a presence as he moved along the pipelines and storage tanks. There was someone farther along the darkened corridor… someone strong with the Force.

It did not take much effort to feel where the sensors connected with the lights were, and even less effort to disable them with just a tiny amount of pressure from the Dark Side. It was a common misconception that droids and machinery could not be sensed through the Force, since they were not alive, so while the devices themselves were technically invisible to senses, the electrical energy flowing through them was not. It was this teaching from his Master that allowed him to disable the sensors, and now Navarro was able to move undetected as he closed in on the presence that he felt.

" _Me'sa captured tha Twi'Lek_." A voice said over a comlink. " _Navarro wasn't wit her, tho… me'sa gonna make her talk, but it'sa gonna take some time_."

"Understood." A fast voice replied in Jawaese. "We shall remain on our guard."

Coming within visual range of the voice, and ducking behind a large machine, Navarro saw that there were two beings standing there. Even without seeing them, he knew that the one talking was a Jawa, and he was surprised to see that the other one was a large and dark colored Wookie. Both of these characters wore Lightsabers, and both were strong in the Force, but that wasn't what concerned him. The one on the comlink had mentioned capturing a Twi'Lek, meaning that he was most likely talking about Feen, as well as being after him for some reason.

"Keep your wits about you, _Darth Dimdi_." The Jawa said as Navarro slowly drew his Lightsaber. "The lights should warn us if Navarro approaches, but if he was not with the Twi'Lek, then he could be anywhere."

"I will be mindful." The Wookie replied in Shyriiwook. "Master Ulic is sure to reward us when we bring back his prize, but tell me… is it true that Navarro cannot be sensed through the Force, and must be seen with the naked eye?"

If there was ever a perfect time to strike, this was it, so igniting his Lightsaber as he rushed out of hiding, Navarro answered Darth Dimdi's question by slicing him in half at the waist before he could even move. He attempted to strike the Jawa down as well, but the little creature was able to ready his own red Lightsaber in the time it took the Sith to Force push the Wookie's decapitated body out of the way. Their blades clashed several times as the surprisingly quick Jawa spun around and flipped through the air, and then both warriors jumped backwards in order to regroup.

"I told Darth Dimdi to keep his wits about him." The Jawa said while stealing a quick glance at the dead Wookie. "So I suppose that I must capture you, myself. I am _Darth Klix_ , apprentice of the Dark Lord Exar Kun. What is your name, Navarro? You _real_ name."

"Very well." Navarro replied as he prepared to resume fighting. "I am _Darth Nihilus_ , apprentice of the true Dark Lady of the Sith, Breen Atroma-Lyn… and I accept your challenge."

 _Meanwhile, toward the landing pads…_

Becca didn't like being alone, nor did she like the dark, or eerily quiet places, or pretty much anything else that described _Sector Fifty Five_ of the planet _Peragus_. The only sound besides the air scrubbers was her own tense breathing, and this just made her more nervous, so she put her arms around herself while constantly looking around for any signs of life. She wondered how a facility this large could be so empty and quiet, especially since _someone_ had given them clearance to land, but then she sensed something as she entered the main hub for the landing pads.

It was a familiar presence, but it was distorted by something, or maybe she just couldn't remember who it was. Either way, it made her feel better as she followed this feeling into the cargo loading bay, but she still didn't see anyone among the huge cargo containers. The metal storage units formed a maze of pathways that had to be navigated carefully in order to not get lost, but the Padawan was getting closer to the person she sensed, so hopefully it wouldn't be too long before she could leave this scary place.

The containers formed a large open area at the center of the loading bay, and this was definitely where the feeling was coming from, so she walked into the circular area, and had to clamp her own hand over her mouth to keep from screaming from what she saw. There were bodies lying on the ground; half a dozen of them, recently killed from what looked like a single stab wound to the chest from a Lightsaber. The worst part, though, was the fact that each body had a Lightsaber lying on the ground not far from it, meaning to her dismay, that these were probably the Jedi who were supposed to take her into custody.

"Hello, young Padawan." A familiar voice said from behind her.

Hearing that voice nearly caused her to faint from fear, and as much as she didn't want to turn around, she somehow slowly forced herself to. It was her Master that was standing just inside of an open cargo container when she finally turned to face her, but instead of the short purple hair that she had always possessed, the Zeltron woman's hair was now a deep red color as well as being long enough to reach the center of her back. This made Becca remember what Navarro said about an original trait always being present after the _Essence Transfer_ … because Coryn Brower had the same hair back on _Hoth_.

"I know you're frightened, Becca." Her Master continued. "From Katrine's memories, I see that you've always been a timid little _Gizka_ , and from your pathetic _bleating_ to the Council, you are aware that I am actually Coryn Brower."

"Why are you doing this?" Becca managed to reply after two tries. "My Master was a good person, how can you do this to her?!"

Trying her best not to cry, the Padawan waited to hear Brower's answer, but was instead met with laughter. It was so hard to control herself while her enemy moved and spoke with Katrine Secura's body, but what could she do? Brower's apprentice had defeated her easily, so what chance did she have against this woman who could steal people's bodies at will?

"I was prepared to leave you to your fate, Becca." Brower continued. "But, you see, I got halfway to Coruscant, when I realized that I had lost my datapad. The sword is nearly useless without it, so I'm going to give you a choice: You can be a good little coward and get it for me, or I can slice off one of your hands, and _then_ you can get it for me."

The Padawan didn't know what to say back to this, but she wasn't about to willingly do anything to help this witch. So she stood her ground as the angry Brower started toward her, and after a couple deep breaths ignited the yellow blade of her Lightsaber, making her enemy stop for a second out of surprise before the laughter returned.

"You entertain me, Becca." Brower replied as she ignited Katrine's Lightsaber in response. "I saw how _easily_ my late apprentice conquered you, and even Katrine had no faith in your abilities, so I'm going to give you another choice: You can either drop the sword and beg to be allowed to get the datapad for me… or I'm going to put you in chains, and then sell you to the _Hutts_ after I get you so hopelessly addicted to _Spice_ that you can't use the Force anymore. Choose _now_ , you gutless simp."


	12. Chapter 12 Dark Forces

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Twelve: Dark Forces**

"Me'sa captured tha Twi'Lek." Darth Bombad said into the comlink. "Navarro wasn't wit her, tho… me'sa gonna make her talk, but it'sa gonna take some time."

" _Understood_." A fast voice replied in Jawaese. " _We shall remain on our guard_."

All the while he was disarming her and while speaking to whoever was on the other end of his comlink, the Gungan didn't break eye contact with Feen for even a second as he continued to hold the point of his Lightsaber at her throat. Even though she couldn't feel the Force herself, the Twi'Lek knew that the creature holding her prisoner was dangerous, since a Sith was only given the name of _Darth_ anything after completing their initial training. That, plus the fact that she was alone and unarmed, made for a _very_ dangerous situation indeed.

"Put you'sa hands behind you'sa head and turn around." Bombad continued as he took a set of binders off his belt with his free hand. "Slowly."

Feen did as she was told, putting her hands behind her head, and making sure to move as slowly as possible so that the blade wouldn't burn her as she turned around. The Gungan approached once she was facing away, and had to move the red blade off to the side a little when he reached for her wrist, and that was the moment she was waiting for. Quickly leaning forward at the waist, she brought the heel of her boot up into his groin, and when he started to lean forward in pain, the Twi'Lek threw back her head while standing up straight.

The back of her head caught Bombad in the mouth, making him cry out in surprise a second time as he was sent stumbling backwards into the nearby bar. Feen then threw out her leg while spinning back around, managing to kick the Lightsaber out of his hand. From sparring with Navarro, she guessed that his next move would be to use the Force, so she continued to spin while moving to the side just enough to avoid his attempt to throw her back. Grabbing a bar stool as she completed the spin, the Twi'Lek used her momentum to bring the piece of furniture across Bombad's head so hard that it shattered.

The Gungan stumbled sideways and fell to his hands and knees, while Feen ran and dove for one of her fallen blaster pistols. Picking up the weapon as she rolled over it, the Twi'Lek aimed and began pulling the trigger, blowing off one of Bombad's long ears before he was able to react. He screamed in agony as he rolled for cover behind the bar, with only one more of Feen's shots managing to hit him in the foot before he was out of sight. A moment later she saw his fallen Lightsaber start flying through the air, so she fired another shot, hitting him in the outstretched hand when he reached for it.

"Ow!" Bombad yelled as the Lightsaber fell to the floor. "You'sa gonna pay for dis!"

Instead of saying anything back, Feen went for her other blaster pistol, reclaiming the weapon at the same time that Bombad made another attempt to get his own. This time she wasn't fast enough to disable him, so the red blade ignited as the Gungan got to his feet, and now it was easy for him to deflect her shots into the walls as he approached. Firing as fast as she could, at as many different parts of his body as she could, the Twi'Lek was forced to back away while Bombad continued to close the distance between them. His wounded foot slowed him down a little, but soon he was close enough for his blade to slice the barrel off one of her blasters.

The broken weapon fell to the floor as the Gungan made another attempt to throw her backwards with the Force, but she was able to avoid it by dropping down to the floor. There she put one leg in front of his ankles with the other behind his knees, and twisted her body hard, making Bombad fall on his face. The Gungan screamed as his chest landed on top of the still ignited blade, and he was about to roll away from it, when Feen interrupted his plans by shooting him in the face. The Lightsaber deactivated as Darth Bombad's body went limp, and the Twi'Lek sighed with relief.

 _Meanwhile, in the fuel depot…_

Red Lightsabers clashed as the two dueling Sith moved back and forth down the walkway, with neither one gaining any significant ground over the other. Having wrongfully assumed that the Wookie had been the more dangerous of the two, Navarro now wished that he had snuck up on Darth Klix instead, since it was taking almost all of his concentration to keep up with the spinning Jawa. It was amazing how graceful and fast his opponent was, jumping on and off of guardrails, and kicking off walls without any sign of getting dizzy. In fact, the Sith was so impressed by this, that he almost hated to reach out with the Force and grab Darth Dimdi's Lightsaber.

The red dual-bladed weapon ignited loudly as it flew, spinning, toward the Jawa from behind, but Klix was able to spin around and slice the hilt neatly into two pieces before it could reach him. Navarro then released a stream of blue and white lightning from his hand, making the Jawa cry out in surprise as it struck him on the back, the crackling energy flowing across his little body as he was sent sliding across the floor on his face. Klix rolled onto his back and started to jump up the moment it stopped, but had to freeze in place as Dimdi's now _two_ Lightsabers jammed themselves into the floor on both sides of his neck.

"I wouldn't move if I were you." Navarro said as Klix's Lightsaber flew into his hand. "Now, if you want to live, you're gonna tell your little friend to release Feen… and anything he's done to her… I'm gonna do to _you_."

"Very well, you win." The Jawa quickly replied while bringing the comlink to his face. "Darth Bombad, you must release the Twi'Lek at once."

" _Bombad's dead, you schutta_." Feen's voice replied. " _And the same thing will happen to you if you've done anything to Navarro_."

The Jawa started to reply, but his words became a scream as one of Dimdi's Lightsabers suddenly slid away from his neck; sparks flying as the blade dragged across the floor until it sliced off his arm. It then moved back to its original position as the severed arm floated up into the air so that the Sith could use Klix's comlink. The Jawa tried to be sneaky by using the Force to grab one of the weapons that were imprisoning him, but Navarro stopped this by poking him in the stomach with the tip of his own Lightsaber.

"Feen, I'm glad you're safe." Navarro said as the Jawa writhed in agony. "I sense Becca may be in trouble as well; make your way toward the landing pad hub, and I'll meet you there once I'm finished here."

" _I'm already on my way_." The Twi'Lek's voice replied. " _Don't keep me waiting_."

"You might have defeated us, here." Darth Klix said defiantly once the conversation was over. "But we are merely apprentices, with powers that pale in comparison to our great Sith Masters."

"Right, speaking of your Masters." Navarro replied. "Why were you sent after me and Feen in the first place?"

The helpless Jawa glared at him angrily, and this was expected, since he himself would never betray his own Master. However, Navarro was also a hypocrite when it came to his enemies, so he poked the stolen blade at Klix's face, causing the Jawa to shriek and flail a bit as one of his glowing eyes went dark.

"Your capture was demanded by Exar Kun, himself!" Darth Klix yelled. "He wants you and your Twi'Lek brought to him, but beyond this I know nothing!"

"The Dark Lord himself, huh?" Navarro asked. "Well, all right… thank you for being so helpful, Klix… goodbye."

The Lightsabers on each side of the Jawa's neck quickly made a scissoring motion as they severed his head, and then they deactivated before floating over to Navarro. Putting each one on his belt, he probably looked a little funny wearing a total of five weapons, but his Master would be pleased when he presented them to her. But for now he had to find Becca, so turning back the way he came, the Sith ran toward the turbolift.

 _Meanwhile, at the cargo loading bay…_

Even with the obvious red hair, it was still hard for Becca to keep it in her mind that this was not her Master she was facing, but merely her body possessed by Coryn Brower. The imposter helped her to remember this by throwing out powerful swings with the stolen yellow Lightsaber, and although the Padawan was able to deflect them, the power of each attack forced her to stumble back a little each time.

"How can you be so _weak_ after all this time?" Brower demanded as another swing put Becca off balance. "I can see this question burning through Katrine's memories, with powerful feelings of disappointment at your lack of skill. She was about to give up on you, did you know that? No significant improvement in six more months, and she wanted to send you back to _Agri-Corps_ on _Alderann_ , and you know what? The Council approved it."

"Shut up!" The Padawan yelled as she went on the attack. "You're not my Master! You're just lying to distract me!"

Their blades clashed as Becca brought her weapon down hard in an effort to overpower her enemy, but Brower simply shoved back, causing the Padawan to trip over a nearby pallet jack, and fall on her rear. Brower laughed as the Padawan scrambled to her feet in order to attack again, and the imposter dodged the first attack, only to make one last swing with her stolen Lightsaber. Instead of hitting the blade, Brower's weapon sliced off the top of Becca's Lightsaber hilt, destroying the weapon in a shower of sparks while burning the Padawan's hands.

"Pathetic." Brower said as Becca fell on her rear again. "If anything, Becca, you are proof that the Force has a sense of humor, and now I will show you that it also has a sense of _irony_. Watch closely, _my young Padawan_ , as you are destroyed by those you hold most dear."

Becca held her burned hands close against her chest while her enemy made that little speech, but none of it could be true. Master Katrine couldn't have really been planning to send her back to _Alderann_ , but at the same time the Padawan had always been afraid that one day the Jedi would give up on her. Either way, she now had more important things to worry about as Brower began to chant in a strange language. Becca slowly got to her feet as a strange kind of green fog began to form around the imposter's hands, growing more and more intense until Brower herself was nearly completely concealed by it.

"Are you ready, little Becca?" The imposter asked. "I don't think you are… you have a few seconds to run away screaming, if you wish."

"Running away from what you fear, isn't strength." Becca replied while trying to control her fear like Master Katrine had showed her. "Facing it is. You are _evil_ , Coryn Brower, and I don't know how, but you must be stopped."

Suddenly the fog dissipated from around Brower as it lashed out in all directions as six long green tentacles, but they did not go after the Padawan. Instead they each targeted one of the fallen Jedi, plunging into their backs like stingers, and continuing to flow inward until each tentacle had vanished. For a moment Becca didn't understand what was happening, but then she let out a startled scream as the nearest fallen Jedi's eyes opened. The dead, glazed over eyes turned toward her, and then the Padawan started backing away as the dead Jedi began to move, slowly rising to his feet while the same thing was happening to the other five.

"What?" Was all Becca managed to whisper as she backed away.

"Padawan Becca, we are one with the Force." The dead Jedi whispered in green fog as he ignited his Lightsaber. "Surrender to us… there is no emotion… there is peace."


	13. Chapter 13 Face the Darkness

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Thirteen: Face the Darkness**

Wide eyed and capable of only drawing in quick, rapid breaths as backed away, Becca was being surrounded by all six of the reanimated Jedi. Their movements were a little jerky and there was no life in their eyes, but that didn't mean that their Lightsabers were any less dangerous. Tiny wisps of green fog flowed off of them each time they took a step, and behind them, Coryn Brower watched intently. With her own Lightsaber having been destroyed, the Padawan wasn't sure what to do, and then fear began to win when her back came to the wall, making her realize that she was trapped.

"What will you do, little Jedi?" The imposter mocked as the dead Jedi closed in. "If you wish to beg for your life, I'll be happy to listen."

Brower laughed after saying this, and then she stopped when Becca used the Force to throw one of the dead Jedi backwards. The Padawan then pointed to a large tool box, causing it to shake for a second before flying right into the head of another dead Jedi. As this one fell, her Lightsaber sliced off the arm of the one next to her, but he didn't react beyond shaking a little as his arm fell to the floor. This gave her the chance she needed to run away, so she took it, rushing through the gap between the ones that remained standing, and having to duck down to avoid getting sliced by one of their blades.

Now that she wasn't surrounded anymore, Becca sprinted back toward the landing pad hub. She needed to find Feen and Navarro, and hopefully together they would be able to stop what was happening. The things that Brower was doing were obviously of the Dark Side, but it went beyond that. She had never heard of a Sith Lord who could steal people's bodies or turn the dead into puppets, so she had to be something else, but then the time for thinking came to an end as her legs were struck by a current of electricity from behind. She cried out in surprise before falling on her face, and although no more lightning came, her legs were now sluggish.

"Leaving so soon, dear?" Brower asked as Becca tried to get up. "Sorry, but this little party just getting started, and you _are_ the guest of honor, after all. Of course, you could avoid all this by just leading me to that datapad."

"All this for a datapad?" The Padawan groaned as made it to her feet. "Why is it so important? What information could _possibly_ be worth killing all these people?"

The imposter frowned at her continued resistance, and the shambling dead Jedi seemed to react to this. Each of them were groaning, and a few drooled out of their mouths that were hanging open, and by now the ones she had knocked down were coming after her as well. Even the one that had lost his arm was approaching again. The feeling was starting to come back in Becca's legs, so she tried running again once one of the dead Jedi were between her and Brower. She figured that this would shield her from the lightning, but what she didn't count on was a large tool box flying through the air and slamming into her side.

"Save yourself, Becca." One of the dead Jedi said as Becca and tools fell across the floor. "Give her what she wants… and then run away… hide like the coward… that you are."

"It's cold and dark… where we are." Another one said. "We're trapped here… lost and alone… give her the datapad… you can save all of us."

"No!" Becca yelled while trying to ignore the pain in her side as she got up. "You're not real! This is… this is some kind of Dark Side trick, and I won't let you dishonor them like that!"

Thrusting out her hand, the one armed dead Jedi stumbled forward and fell over as his Lightsaber was torn away by the Force. The weapon flew into the Padawan's hand, and she activated the green blade while running toward the imposter. One of the dead Jedi blocked her path while swinging his own Lightsaber, but she deflected the attack, and came back with a powerful swing that sliced off both his arms at the elbow along with his torso. Based on how sluggish and jerky their movements were when walking, Becca had guessed that they would be the same way during combat, and she was right, giving her the advantage for once.

The next dead Jedi that got in her way was more aggressive, slashing at her multiple times, and forcing the Padawan to back off a little while dodging them or deflecting with her blade. It was only a matter of time before an opening appeared, and she only wished that real opponents were this easy to defeat as she sliced through his knees. She brought the blade back the opposite way, destroying his Lightsaber and cleaving him in half before spinning around and neatly slicing off the one armed dead Jedi's head before he had even been able to get all the way up again.

A path was now cleared, and even though Becca knew that they were already dead, it still tore her apart to have to strike the Jedi down like that. Brower made no move to defend herself as the Padawan ran toward her, and Becca was raising the weapon to strike, when it suddenly felt like her throat was being crushed. This wasn't the first time she had been choked like this, but it caught her completely off guard, and Brower just smiled as the Padawan was lifted off the floor. Becca made a wild swing with the Lightsaber, but then the grip on her throat tightened, causing her to let out a whispering scream as the weapon fell from her hand.

"That was a valiant effort, Becca." Brower said as the Padawan gasped for breath. "But once again, you have _failed_ to live up to your Master's expectations. A weak and pitiful creature like you has no business even _attempting_ to become a Jedi, so after I've completely destroyed your mind to find my datapad, I'm going to give you a whole new identity."

The invisible hold on her was suddenly released, allowing Becca to cough and gasp for air as she collapsed to the floor, but then it came back. The Padawan squeaked and began to cry as her throat felt like it was being crushed, but then it stopped, and she knew she had to get away. Not even knowing what direction she was going in as she scrambled to her feet, this time she was stopped when lightning struck her in the back. She hadn't even gotten to take a full breath yet, so there was no air in her lungs to cry out with as she fell over a bunch of boxes, and then the grip on her throat returned.

"So what should I make you, hmm?" Brower asked as Becca flailed around desperately. "You could be a spice-addicted prostitute from _Taris_ , or maybe a farmer's wife from _Tattooine_ who watched her children get butchered by the _Sand People_. The possibilities are endless, but first we have to…

Brower's speech became a surprised cry of pain as a blaster bolt struck her in the shoulder, and the imposter was forced to release her hold on Becca so that she could use her Lightsaber to deflect the dozens of other shots that came behind it. Now able to breathe again, the Padawan scrambled away, coughing as she hid behind a small cargo crate. From there she could see that the blaster shots came from Feen, who was still shooting as she ran toward Brower, while Navarro skillfully used his red and blue blades to quickly cut down the rest of the dead Jedi.

The Twi'Lek now seemed unable to hit Brower again, and her assault was ended when the final two shots were deflected back at her, one destroying her remaining blaster pistol, while the other one hit her in the leg just above the knee. She let out a _yelp_ as she fell to all fours, and then Brower leapt through the air; her yellow blade raised for the death blow as she came down. But then the imposter had to defend herself , swinging her blade to destroy two spinning red Lightsabers as she landed, and then jumping back to avoid two more that were followed by an attack from Navarro.

"Fool, do you really think you can win?" Brower asked while blocking his attacks. "I was trained to use a Lightsaber by _Tulak Horde_ , himself."

"And you use all that skill to pick on helpless Padawans?" Navarro replied as their blades clashed. "Let's see how you do against a Warrior of the Sith."

Between the spinning Lightsabers in the air and the two in his hands, the Sith drove Brower back, giving Feen the chance to get to safety. Becca thought at first that Navarro was going to be able to overpower her, but Brower was so graceful and precise with her Lightsaber, far more so than Master Katrine had been. Destroying each spinning Lightsaber in between deflecting the Sith's attacks, Brower was then able to kick the blue weapon out of Navarro's hand before throwing him into the wall with the Force. He remained on his feet, but not for long as Brower opened her hand to unleash her purple energy tendrils, all of which made the Sith scream as they bit into him before vanishing in a small explosion.

"Aw, does that hurt, little Sith Warrior?" The imposter asked as his Lightsaber flew into her hand. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

The blue Lightsaber hit the floor and rolled to a stop within Becca's reach at the same time that Navarro was thrown, but fear kept her from taking it, allowing her to only continue watching as the Sith was hit with the purple energy. She wanted to do something, but Brower was so powerful, something that Navarro didn't seem to understand as he sent lightning at her from both hands. In response, the imposter crossed the two blades to absorb the energy, but she seemed to not be having such an easy time about it. In fact, she was sweating, and had to take a step back to keep her balance against the electrical assault.

That was it! A memory from _Hoth_ came rushing back into her mind, making her remember that Brower was weakened after using that strange purple attack, so if the Padawan was going to do something, it would have to be now. Picking up the Lightsaber and activating it as she jumped over the cargo crate, Becca brought the blade down _hard_ , making Brower scream as the tip cut down the length of her arm. This also caused her to drop Navarro's Lightsaber as she was struck in the chest by his continued stream of lightning. The imposter was sent reeling backwards, and once the Sith reclaimed his weapon, he joined Becca in attacking her.

Together they drove her back, Brower breathing heavily and not looking quite as graceful anymore as she blocked their attacks, and Becca scored another hit by dragging the tip of her blue blade across the imposter's leg. Brower cried out as she fell to one knee, with both Navarro and Becca bringing down their blades onto hers a second later, but then she used an incredibly powerful blast of the Force to send them flying backwards. They both crashed into a pallet of metal buckets, sending the containers rolling and bouncing all over the place as Brower limped away, and her apparent destination was a small shuttle that was docked at the other end of the loading bay.

"Oh no." Navarro said as she hobbled up the ramp. "Becca, come on! We have to get out of here before she takes off!"

He grabbed the Padawan by the hand, pulling her along so fast that she could barely stay on her feet while the shuttle's engines powered up, and then the pressure hatch above them opened. All of the atmosphere was sucked out as the shuttle took off, and they would have been sucked out with it, if Navarro hadn't gotten them through the door and closed it just in time. Feen had already escaped into this section after taking that hit to the leg, and they were about to start heading toward the _Ebon Hawk_ , when they saw the shuttle moving across the planet's surface through the window.

" _Fine, keep the damn datapad_." Brower's voice said over the intercom. " _It won't help you much where you're going, anyway_."

Becca wasn't sure what she meant by that, but then she gasped as the shuttle turned and fired a single blaster shot; not at them, but at the fuel-rich and _highly_ volatile surface of _Peragus_.


	14. Chapter 14 The End of Peragus

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Fourteen: The End of Peragus**

There was only a small impact flash when the blaster shot hit the dark colored surface of the planet, and for a moment Becca thought everything was going to be okay as the shuttle took off at full speed. Then there was another, much brighter flash at the same spot, and everything started shaking as the light got a lot bigger. There was a nearly deafening explosion outside as the Padawan and the others were knocked off their feet, and then everything became a lot brighter as the flash, which was now a constant fire, spread out in all directions.

"Run!" Navarro yelled as the shaking became worse. "Get back to the ship, _now_!"

The fire was now all that could be seen outside the window, and more explosions could be heard, some closer, and some farther away. The facility itself was vibrating intensely, as well as creaking and groaning as if it were under a great strain, and the tremors were getting so violent that lights started to fall from their mounts while Becca got up. It was difficult to keep her balance as she followed the others, but Navarro and Feen didn't seem to be having much difficulty, and the pair quickly vanished from sight.

"Wait for me!" The Padawan called out. "Wait!"

She ran to catch up with them, but then the whole facility started rocking slightly to the side, making her have to hold onto anything she could get her hands on to keep from falling again. Alarms could be heard going off among the explosions, and the building's tilt slowly got worse as she made her way back toward the _Ebon Hawk_ ; bolted-down furniture starting to come loose, and small cracks beginning to form on the walls. This made her pick up the pace a little, not wanting to be there when those cracks breached the outer hull, and she was about to round the final corner to the ship, when something slammed into her.

No, not something, _someone_. It was a Human male around her age that she collided with, and along with the tremors and explosions, they both ended up falling onto the ground. He raised a weapon as he got up to his knees, and Becca reflexively started to grab for her new Lightsaber, but then she stopped. It wasn't a weapon he was holding, but a broken piece of pipe that his bound hands were shackled to. He was also in pretty rough shape, with messy hair and small burns spotted across his hands and face. The mechanic's jumpsuit he wore was also torn and burned in places, and the poor young man looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"Help me!" He pleaded as she got up. "Please! Those Sith… those Sith killed everyone! Please, help me!"

The Padawan had no idea who this person was, or what Sith he was talking about, since the only one she had seen was Coryn Brower. Of course, the surface of _Peragus_ was exploding outside, so there wasn't time to really think about anything except getting back to the _Ebon Hawk_ , so Becca helped him to his feet. He groaned in pain once they started moving, and he had to lean on her heavily in order to keep from falling over again, but soon they had reached the loading ramp.

"I'm here!" The Padawan yelled as she hit the button to close it once they were onboard.

"Feen, take off!" Navarro yelled up to the cockpit. "What the hell took you so long... and who's this?"

There was no time to say anything as the engines fired up and they all fell against the wall from the inertia. The young man groaned as he bounced off the wall and sunk to the floor, but she couldn't help him until the ship cleared the planet's gravity several seconds later. Finally they leveled off, and Becca was starting to help him up, when the lights flickered as everything around them shook. A couple seconds later the banked hard to the side as if Feen was trying to avoid something.

"Put your boyfriend in the medical bay." Navarro ordered as he started toward the cockpit. "Then get yourself strapped in."

" _Boyfriend_?" She replied while getting the young man to his feet. "I don't even know this guy's name!"

The _Ebon Hawk_ continued to make sharp movements, along with the occasional shake like they were being hit by something, so the Padawan helped him to the medical bay, where she quickly strapped him down onto the examination bed before moving toward the cockpit herself. It was good to finally get buckled into her usual seat next to the Holocron, since she didn't have to worry about keeping her balance anymore, but then she realized why Feen was flying them so wildly as she saw blaster shots skimming past the cockpit from behind.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"There's a Republic cruiser shooting at us." The Twi'Lek explained. "I've got hyperspace coordinates punched in, but they won't let us stay lined up long enough to jump."

"I've got the deflector shield angled toward the rear." Navarro added. "But we can't take many more hits."

"Can we jump to hyperspace without leveling off?" Becca asked.

"Yes, but it could throw us off course." Feen replied as the ship shook again. "We could end up a dozen systems off course, or crash into something."

" _Then you must create the window you need_." Breen's voice said from the Holocron. " _The vessel pursuing us is powerful, but it is manned by living beings who will hesitate when faced with something unexpected_."

Becca wasn't sure what she meant by that, but Navarro and Feen seemed to understand as they both looked at each other with surprised expressions on their faces. Both swallowed hard as the Sith began working his console, and the Padawan watched the shield display change so that the front of the ship was protected the most, just before Feen turned them completely around so that they were facing _Peragus_ once again. The first thing Becca saw was that the entire surface of the planet was erupting with explosions as if the whole thing was about to break apart, and the second thing was that they were now flying right toward the _Iceni_.

Her eyes were wide as the hull of the cruiser filled the outside view, but then they rotated to the side at the last second, skimming right past the larger vessel. The red and white hull was so close that the Padawan could have probably reached out the window and touched it, if they weren't in the vacuum of space, that is, and the Holocron was right: The cruiser had stopped firing the moment they had doubled back toward it, and still no more shots had been fired by the time the _Ebon Hawk_ passed the _Iceni's_ rear thrusters.

" _Well done_." Breen's voice continued. " _Now I suggest you escape quickly… I feel a great disturbance in the Force… this world is doomed_."

Looking down at the surface of _Peragus_ as they flew above it, Becca saw that the whole planet was cracking along where the largest explosions were coming from. However, now they had leveled off, and Feen was just pulling the throttle to enter hyperspace, when the planet's surface exploded in a single blinding light. The stars had started to elongate, but the force of the explosion behind them sent the _Ebon Hawk_ spiraling out of control as it entered the blue hyperspace tunnel.

Alarms were going off all across the consoles as they flipped and spun around, and then all the lights went out right before there was a small explosion heard toward the back of the ship. Suddenly the engines died completely, causing the _Ebon Hawk_ to exit hyperspace, but something was wrong. Usually when a ship slowed down, the stars were seen retracting into their normal size, but this time that didn't happen. In fact… Becca didn't seen any stars at all as the ship slowly came to a stop. The emergency lights came on a few seconds later, so at least they still had power, but as for outside… there was nothing to see.

"Where are we?" Navarro asked.

"I don't know." Feen replied. "We'll have to get main power going again before we can use the Navicomputer."

"I can't see anything out there." Becca said as she looked out the window.

It was just darkness, no stars, no nebulas, no nothing for as far as the eye can see, which was bad because in space the naked eye can see for a great distance. The Padawan had never seen a part of space that looked like this, almost as if a black curtain had been drawn over the ship, and it made her feel uneasy. Her thoughts were interrupted by Navarro getting up to leave the cockpit, and although she doubted that she could help him fix anything, it did make her remember about the newest passenger they had picked up. So she got out of her seat, and followed him as far as the common room, where they split up.

"Hey." She said as she walked into the medical bay. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore." The young man replied weakly. "Can you get this thing off my wrists?"

There hadn't been time to unshackle him from the broken pipe before takeoff, and now that she had a moment to look, she saw that his bindings were digging deeply into his skin. It only took a flick of her Lightsaber's blue blade to free him, causing the young man to cry out in a mixture of agony and relief as he clutched them against his chest. Becca felt so bad for him as she looked at his burns and cuts, and only then did it dawn on her that she was in the _medical bay_ , which meant that there were probably kolto-packs laying around somewhere. Sure enough, there were a few in the dispenser, so she took one out, and stuck it into his leg.

"Are you… a Jedi?" He asked, grunting as the pack made a _hiss_.

"Yes." She replied. "Well… a _Padawan learner_ , actually."

"Becca." Navarro's voice interrupted from outside. "Becca, come here for a minute."

She touched the young man's arm in a caring manner before returning to the hallway, and it was only a short distance before she found the Sith in the mostly darkened engine room. Black smoke was emanating from the machinery, and the smell of burnt chemicals filled the air, neither of these being good signs of, well… _anything_. Hopefully the damage wasn't as bad as it appeared.

"How can I help?" She asked.

"I need some light." Navarro continued once she was there. "Hold up your Lightsaber so I can see what I'm doing."

Quickly obeying his instructions, the Padawan ignited her blade, and now the engine room was bathed in blue light. Of course, now that she could see, she immediately wished that she couldn't, since not only was the damage to the engines as bad as it appeared, but it was also actually worse. Navarro moved back and forth across the room, checking system after system, while a more and more discouraged look spread across his face.

"Well, this is just _great_." He said while folding his arms across his chest. "We can probably get the sub-light engines back up with a few jury-rigs, but the hyperdrive's toast. I hate to say this… but it looks like we're stuck out here for now… wherever here is."


	15. Chapter 15 Guidance

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Fifteen: Guidance**

Continuing to hold the light while Navarro worked on the engines, Becca realized that this was the first chance she had to just stop and think about things in quite some time. There was currently nowhere for them to go since the engines were inoperative, and no one was trying to kill them, so she spent the next few hours trying to understand everything that had been happening… or at least get her thoughts organized like her Master had taught her. For a moment she forgot that Katrine Secura was dead, killed and her body stolen by Coryn Brower, and this was just the start of her thoughts.

As far as she understood, Brower was some kind of Witch from ancient times, who survived by stealing the bodies of her victims. She was also obsessed with finding an ancient Sith Sword for some reason, and during this pursuit, she had managed to get the Jedi Council to accuse Becca of falling to the Dark Side. Obviously she hadn't, but it was going to be a lot more difficult to prove this to the Council if Brower was able to communicate with them first. Once the engines were done, she was going to insist that they repair communications next, since who knows what lies Brower was telling the Council at that very moment?

"Well, that's about all I can do here." Navarro said as he turned toward her. "Hopefully we'll have sub-light engines back once these welds cool, but we won't know for sure until Feen gets main power back up. Well, I'm gonna take a break; why don't you go check on your boyfriend?"

"He is _not_ my boyfriend, Navarro." Becca replied almost sharply. "I don't even know his name."

The Sith just smirked at her in response, making the Padawan _huff_ as she turned and left the engine room. Trying her best to ignore the laughter that followed, she focused on her concern for their injured new passenger, at least until she was too far away to hear Navarro's laughter anymore. The _Ebon Hawk_ was a small freighter, so it wasn't long before she reached the door to the medical bay, but she didn't go in right away. Instead she fixed her hair, and was in the middle of smoothing out the wrinkles in her clothes, when she realized that she didn't know why she was bothering.

"Hey, Becca." The young man said with a smile as she walked in, reminding her of why she bothered.

The kolto-packs must have worked, since he was now sitting up on the bed, and she could see his well-toned physique, now that he had removed his shirt to bandage one of the burns on his chest. The Padawan found herself smiling a little herself as her eyes wandered up to his blue eyes, then to his short messy blond hair, but then they went back to his torso and she liked how well conditioned his body was.

"Uh… hello." She replied after realizing that she was staring. "I came to see how you were feeling."

"A lot better, thanks to you." He answered, finishing the bandage and putting his shirt back on. "I'm Tanis Vaklu, by the way."

He stood up and came closer to shake hands, and only now that he wasn't hunched over in pain, did Becca realize that he was a bit taller than her. At least now she knew his name, but once they shook hands, she wasn't sure what to do or say next. Right now he was overjoyed to be rescued, but it probably wouldn't be too long before his mind fully grasped what had happened to _Peragus_. He had probably lost friends, or even family, and who knows what the other Sith had done to him. Navarro had told her about them during the engine repairs, and having been on the receiving end of Sith torture, she knew it must have been horrible.

"Oh, you've got some oil on your cheek." Tanis said as he reached up. "You know, I've been a mechanic on _Peragus_ for three years, so I can help if something's wrong with your ship."

"Okay." Becca replied softly when his thumb brushed across her cheek.

Her thoughts might have come back into focus once his hand moved away, but instead it lingered. Slowly the light brush of his thumb became the soft touch of his whole hand resting on her cheek, and she didn't mean to, but the Padawan found herself slightly leaning into it while the two of them kind of awkwardly looked at each other.

"I hate to interrupt all the flirting." Navarro said as he appeared in the doorway, making them quickly separate. "But break time's over, and I think I heard you say you're a mechanic, so um… just pick something and fix it."

"I will." Tanis replied nervously. "And thank you for getting me out of the facility, but… do you know if they were able to contain the blast? You see, the raw fuel on _Peragus_ is highly unstable, and an explosion on the surface could…

Navarro stopped the young man's questions by placing his hand on his shoulder for a second before walking away as suddenly as he had appeared. Becca had been working on a way to tell him that the whole planet had been on fire before they jumped into hyperspace, but apparently the Sith had been able to explain it to him without saying a word. Tanis's warm smile was gone now, replaced with a slowly spreading look of shock as he realized what had happened, and he suddenly stumbled backwards so that he was sitting back on the examination table.

"But it _had_ to have been contained." He said with wide eyes as he looked at Becca. "Any explosion that happens inside a facility is immediately suppressed by the droids… we have them at every mining site… and blasters aren't allowed on _Peragus_. I know those Sith had weapons, but they didn't go into the tunnels, so it can't be true… it just can't."

"Tanis." Becca said softly as she walked up to him. "I don't know how to say this, but… the explosion came from outside. A woman named Coryn Brower, she… she used a shuttle's blasters to shoot the surface… I'm… I'm so sorry."

She expected him to break down right there, but surprisingly he didn't. It looked like he was going to start crying like she had done when the Council said they were going to arrest her, but instead he looked like he was thinking. Tanis muttered to himself for a few seconds, and then Becca couldn't help gasping in surprise as he suddenly jumped up.

"Did you see the planet explode?!" He demanded while putting his hands on her cheeks. "Did you actually see it happen?!"

"Yes… well… I saw _an_ explosion." She stammered as her knees shook a bit. "But we were trying to get away from the _Iceni_ , so… I guess I didn't."

His smile returned suddenly as if he had realized something important, but all Becca knew was that she was confused by the fact that he was just holding her there. Traumatic events could sometimes make people act crazy, so was this what was happening here?

"That means there's _hope_ , Becca!" He exclaimed happily, interrupting her thoughts. "I'll fix the communications systems on this ship, and then I know the planet will still be there, I just _know_ it! My family and friends are all going to be okay, and I'm gonna get to see them again because _you_ saved my life!"

The Padawan didn't know what to say back to all this, and she was still trying to figure it out, when Tanis suddenly pulled her forward to give her a quick kiss on the lips before he ran out of the room. This left her just standing there by herself for a while, with even more confusion going through her mind. It was nice that she had somehow given him hope about his situation, but at the same time how was he going to react if when he got communications restored, he discovered that _Peragus_ was destroyed?

Her first thought was to ask Navarro what she should do, but then she rethought for a minute, and decided to ask Feen about it instead. Having to move back through the common room, where Tanis had already opened the communications panel and was hard at work, Becca was trying to sneak through quietly, when her eyes fell onto the Twi'Lek's partially constructed droid. Her technique of switching back and forth between jobs was allowing her to make a lot of progress, with the black limbs and a good part of the torso put together. Apparently this was going to be a very large and powerful droid when it was finished.

"So I shot him in the hand when he reached for it." Feen was saying when Becca reached the cockpit. "And he said _'you'sa gonna pay for dat'_ , and then I knocked him down and shot him in the face."

" _You have done well, Feen_." The Holocron replied. " _But now that your battle has been won, you need to focus your attention on the more important question: Why are the leaders of this new Sith Empire interested in Navarro?_ _Ponder this as we address the needs of our young Jedi… I could sense her anxiety as if it were a disturbance in the Force. What troubles you, young one?"_

"It's Tanis… the one we rescued from _Peragus_." Becca nervously explained. "He holds onto hope that his family are safe, but I don't know how to comfort him when he learns the truth, and… I feel responsible. If I had listened to you and not gone there, then his planet would never have been destroyed, and… I need guidance."

"We're all in this together, Becca." The Twi'Lek said once she was done. "We all understand loss and pain, and if your new friend finds himself alone, we will be there for him as well."

" _Well spoken, Feen_." The Holocron replied softly. " _However, I feel that I need to speak with the young Padawan alone… assemble your droid for a while, use it to clear your thoughts and focus on the recent Sith ambush_."

Feen nodded as she got up from where she had bene working, and then bowed to the Holocron before leaving the cockpit. With only emergency power to illuminate the ship, the cockpit was red from the Holocron's light just as it had been the first time that she had spoken to it, and that made her nervous.

" _You are afraid_." The Holocron spoke. " _Afraid of your enemy, afraid of the Jedi Council's judgement, and afraid of the young man blaming you for Peragus. You fear being hated by him, especially after sharing such an intimate moment in the medical bay, and your instinct is to go running to your Master for guidance… but alas… you have none_."

The feeling of anxiety in the bottom of her stomach was getting worse now, and there was no denying what the Holocron was saying. She _was_ afraid; afraid of everything that she was accused of, and the worst part was that there was no one for her to turn to. She felt like such a coward, even though she really _was_ trying her best in everything.

" _You do not need to say anything, my dear_." The Holocron continued. " _Unlike the Jedi, I do not require you to bow and kiss my feet, and unlike modern Sith, I will not force you to betray your virtues. Know that there are, in fact, three Masters on this ship who can give you the guidance you seek. I can help you like I do the others, with my wisdom and experience, especially when it comes to ancient things, like your enemy_."

The Padawan was hesitant to accept any help from this ancient artifact of the Dark Side, especially since it admitted to being an ancient _Dark Lord of the Sith_ , or _Dark Lady_ to be more precise, but she had to admit that those who served her did not seem like the Sith she had been warned about in her training.

"And the others?" Becca asked nervously.

" _Navarro will teach you many skills_." The Holocron explained. " _He will teach you how to wield a Lightsaber properly, as well as some of the forgotten lessons of the Force that I once imparted upon him. Finally, Feen will give you some clarity on the young man from Peragus… I suggest you speak to her before anything else… now go._ "


	16. Chapter 16 Self Improvement

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Sixteen: Self Improvement**

Following the Holocron's advice, Becca left the cockpit, and quickly located Feen in the workshop where the two swoop bikes were housed. She had made even more progress on the HK droid that she was building, and it appeared that she was trying to install some kind of attachment onto the wrist of one of its arms. It was a bracketed tool of some kind that the Twi'Lek was welding into place, and when the Padawan took a closer look, she noticed that the tool looked remarkably like the hilt of a Lightsaber.

"And that should about do it." Feen said as she stopped welding. "Once these attachments cool down and have time to settle, I'll be able to start attaching the limbs to the torso. Oh, well, time for a break… so what did Master Breen have to say?"

"She said I should talk to you before doing anything else." Becca replied as she sat down in a seat near hers. "I'm worried about Tanis… the boy we picked up on _Peragus_ … he thinks that his family and friends will be fine once he fixes our long range communications, but I _felt_ the deaths on that world, and… I don't know how to be there for him when he learns the truth."

The Padawan felt so stupid for not knowing how to comfort someone, but within the Jedi Order, a death of someone close was met with mediation and quiet reflection. Somehow she didn't imagine that Tanis was going to react that way when he realized that everyone he knew on that world had been violently killed in the explosion, and she just wished that she could do something for him.

"You could sleep with him." The Twi'Lek casually suggested. "If he's upset, just kind of move your body against his when you hug him, and he'll do the rest. Trust me, I never met a man who couldn't be cured of any bad thoughts by a good romp in the bedroom."

"You want me to… sleep with him?" Becca asked nervously. "As in, like… have sex… with Tanis? But I hardly know him, and besides, the Jedi are not allowed to have such attachments, it… it can lead to the Dark Side… so I can't."

She was rambling again, and felt the temperature rise on her cheeks as her face turned red. How could Feen even _suggest_ something like that to her? Not only was it completely inappropriate, but she had only learned Tanis's name about an hour ago. Not that the young man was unattractive or anything, but she still couldn't just throw herself at him like a dancing girl. Not only was it against the _Jedi Code_ , but it also wouldn't help her case against Coryn Brower with the Council.

"Becca?" The Twi'Lek asked. "You've never been with a man before, have you?"

"The Jedi forbid such things." She found herself saying while feeling herself blushing even more. "It just… isn't allowed."

The shame and embarrassment that she was feeling had now become too much, and rather than hide her face in her hands, the Padawan simply stood up and walked out of the workshop. Hopefully Feen would understand the reason behind her sudden departure, and the Twi'Lek must've, since she didn't call to Becca or try and follow her. Before now, it had never been difficult to admit that she had never even been kissed before, well, aside from when Tanis had suddenly shoved his tongue into her mouth earlier… okay, that was enough; she needed to just stop thinking about this for a while.

"Good find with that kid on _Peragus_." Navarro's voice called as she passed the cargo hold. "If he can fix everything else on this ship as fast as he's repairing the comm system, we should be up and running again in a matter of days."

She had already gone past the door, so she had to back up to it, and once she did, she saw the Sith sitting cross-legged as if he were meditating. His eyes were closed, and he did not react to her presence again, even as she entered the room.

"Um… Navarro?" She asked, again feeling nervous. "Breen said I should come to you, and… that you could, um… teach me how to wield a Lightsaber properly?"

"I can teach you a lot, Becca." He calmly replied. "But I can see into your mind, and I know that you fear any lessons from me will lead you to the Dark Side. Sit with me for a moment."

Without hesitation, the Padawan found herself sitting cross-legged in front of him, just as she had done with her Master many times during both instruction and meditation time. He was right, though… Navarro was obviously a Sith, and was not ashamed of wielding the Dark Side of the Force, so yes… she was afraid of being corrupted by him.

"Before I can teach you _anything_ , you must be prepared to listen." He continued. "My Master taught me that true listening comes from both hearing those around you, and quieting yourself to the point where you are not a distraction to others. Now, close your eyes, and use the Force to feel this ship around you; its vibrations, its movements, and most importantly, the people roaming its corridors."

Becca had done something like this once before during her initial training at the Academy on _Dantooine_ , but that had been an attempt to see the future, or maybe the past as Master Vandar had explained. She had not done very well, but her connection to the Force had strengthened since then, so she reached out with her feelings, and began to see. It was as she expected, getting clouded flashes of different parts of the Ebon Hawk, but not much else.

"You are doing fine, Becca." Navarro commented. "Focus on my voice, and I will guide you… let your mind float over to the workshop where Feen is putting her droid together."

The Padawan tried to focus, and it was a little easier to see the room in question now that he was giving her something to focus on. Through the cloudy haze, she was able to see that the Twi'Lek was still sitting in her chair, again working on the droid. She seemed to be putting another attachment onto its arm, but other than that, she couldn't see or hear anything.

"Very good." Navarro continued. "Now follow the vibrations of newly restored systems over into the common room, where your new friend is hard at work to repair communications."

It was hard to get the image in her mind to move out of the room, at least in the direction that she wanted, but then she found one of the vibrations that he was talking about. It was a power cable that ran through the wall, and using this as an anchor, she was able to float over into the common room just like he said. Once there, she was able to see Tanis working on another panel, but this time something was different.

" _Everyone's going to be okay_." He said without his lips moving. " _Stay positive, everyone's going to be okay… think about good things… like Becca's incredible body… and that was such a sweet kiss_."

Suddenly she was no longer able to keep focus, and she gasped as her eyes opened. It wasn't a surprise that she was back in the cargo hold with Navarro, but after fighting to look through that haze, it took her eyes a second to adjust to everything around her having so much clarity.

"I heard him!" She exclaimed excitedly. "I heard his thoughts, just like you said, but… I couldn't hear anything from Feen."

"Nor should you expect too." Navarro replied. "The minds of alien races are too different from your own for you to be able to hear their thoughts, but you did wonderfully, Becca. I expect you to continue practicing this technique, and when you're ready, I'll show you how to quiet yourself until you go unnoticed, like I do."

She nodded, and smiled, wanting to thank him for teaching her this lesson, but this gratitude was interrupted by her concern about learning from him. So far she didn't feel anything pulling her toward the Dark Side, but then her thoughts were interrupted when the Sith stood up and moved to the other side of the cargo hold. There, he motioned for her to come closer, and again, she found herself obeying without question.

"And now we shall address your Lightsaber problem." The Sith explained once she had joined him. "I've been watching you during our battles, and I've noticed that you always fight using the _Shi-Cho_ form. That's fine if you're in a Jedi dueling ring, but by now you must realize how ineffective it has been for you in real life."

"I know." Becca replied sadly while hanging her head. "Master Katrine didn't feel that I was ready to learn any of the advanced forms… she said I had yet to get a solid grasp of the basics."

Throughout all of her training, the Padawan had always told herself that she was going to do better with skills that she struggled with, and until the chaos that happened on _Hoth_ , she had honestly believed it. She tried to stay positive, but it was so discouraging to lose fight after fight, and each time her opponent had completely humiliated her as if the fact that she lost was not enough. She could still feel the burns each time Kevrap had poked her with his blade, and now she could see his face, laughing at her helplessness as she cried for mercy.

"Enough!" Navarro shouted, interrupting her thoughts. "The Iridonian is dead, but you will remain his slave so long as those memories consume you, and that, my little Padawan, _will_ lead you to the Dark Side. Now you've got two choices: You can cry yourself to sleep every night thinking about what he did to you… or you can draw your weapon, and learn how to make sure it _never_ happens to you again. Choose _now_."

She didn't want to be helpless, so she took the Lightsaber off her belt, and activated the blue blade, making Navarro smile. This also made her a little more trusting about taking lessons from him, since if all he wanted to do was corrupt her, those memories could have eventually done it on their own.

"Good, now pay attention, Becca." He continued as he activated his own weapon. "I am going to teach you the _Niman_ form; a moderate technique that is seldom used because it has no specific strengths or weaknesses, but at the same time, you _also_ have no specific strengths or weaknesses. In other words, it's a perfect match… so are you ready to begin?"

"Ready." She replied.


	17. Chapter 17 Life Experience

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Seventeen: Life Experience**

Over the next few days, Becca divided her time between helping to repair the _Ebon Hawk_ where she could, and training with Navarro. The _Niman_ form of Lightsaber combat came surprisingly easy for her, but that was probably because, as he had mentioned, it was such a moderate technique. Unlike the _Shi-Cho_ , and others that she had seen advanced Padawans study, there were no rigorous focus points to memorize, nor were there any serious drawbacks to be concerned with. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, Navarro never even flinched from any of her attacks.

"Why do you hesitate so much?" The Sith asked after deflecting her latest attack. "Lightsabers are lethal weapons, Becca, and the only point in fighting with them is when you want to kill something. Now try again."

The Padawan was determined to at least drive him back with her next attempt, so she attacked a little more fiercely than the last time. Their blades clashed, and she followed up by shoving toward him with all her weight, but then Navarro grabbed the hilt of her Lightsaber while kicking her feet out from under her, efficiently stealing the weapon while she fell on her face.

"You're focusing too much on your blade, Becca." He explained as she got up. "In combat, your enemy will do absolutely anything to win, and so should you. Use the rest of your body like I just did, or use the Force in a way they don't expect. And most importantly, use your _mind_ to help you take advantage of any situation. I know that the _Jedi Code_ is full of rules and honor, but at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that you're still alive and your enemies lay dead."

And _now_ the Dark Side of the Force was showing itself through him. The Padawan could feel his anger and exceptionally powerful hatred coming to the surface, and this was what she feared becoming. But how could he think that being like this was a good idea? Surely, he must have felt how evil and twisted it was, and yet he was still a Sith, but what had he been before? Had he always been this way? Was his entire life nothing but a constant fall into violence, depravity, and darkness?

"Is that why you chose the Dark Side?" She found herself blurting out. "So that you could be strong enough to kill and inflict suffering? I don't want to be a killer, Navarro, I just want to protect myself. I don't take any pleasure in causing other people pain."

"Neither do I." He argued. "Well… maybe just a little, but no, that isn't why I chose my path. I embraced the Dark Side in order to stop the worst people in the galaxy from harming me and my loved ones, and to make _damn sure_ that no one ever does to me what Kevrap was going to do to you, again."

For a moment it felt like his hatred was going to explode, and Becca was terrified that she would be the target, but then it faded. Suddenly all of the rage and darkness that had been filling the room to the point of suffocating her, just vanished, and the Sith was calm again. Deactivating both Lightsabers and setting them on a nearby crate, Navarro moved over to another one and sat down on it, before patting the next one over. Not wanting to make him angry again, she walked over and sat down on it.

"Navarro, I'm sorry." She began. "I didn't mean to…

"Let me tell you about _me_ , my young Padawan." The Sith interrupted. "I was born on _Dantooine_ , to a family of farmers, and when I was five years old, my parents decided that we were going to take a cruise. Three days into the voyage, we were attacked by slavers, and then I and the other children onboard got to watch as our fathers were decompressed in an airlock while our mothers were passed around like drinks. Next thing you know, I'm a slave on Kessel, mining Spice out of the rocks for the next few years while the other captured children drop, one by one."

Becca said nothing while he spoke, and her mind was trying to visualize everything that he described. She tried to imagine what it would have been like for a little boy to go through events like that, but she couldn't. At five years old she had been just beginning Youngling training at the academy on, well… _Dantooine_.

"The life of a slave is not pleasant." Navarro continued. "There is back-breaking labor, poor living conditions, malnourishment… but the worst of it came when the sun went down and work was done for the day. You see, the overseer had a special need for pretty little boys, and well… let's just say that he found me adorable. This went on for a really long time, and then one day I was digging out a new tunnel, when I discovered an ancient Sith tomb. There I found a certain Holocron, and she promised to look after me. So I was taught the ways of the Jedi, and after completing what you would call Youngling training, I was given a choice. I could forgive my overseer and continue as a Padawan… or I could kill him with an old sword and become a Sith."

He didn't need to any anything else, as it was obvious which choice he made, but it surprised the Padawan that he had even been given one. Breen had mentioned to her that the greatest Sith start out as Jedi, but Becca hadn't expected an ancient Sith Lord like her to be capable of training someone in the Light Side of the Force. Of course, she had also mentioned that the greatest Jedi are tempered in the Dark Side… whatever that meant.

"The Dark Side doesn't make you evil, Becca." Navarro added. "Either you do that to yourself, or it is the result of having a poor Master… but I think that's enough for today."

Taking that as her cue to leave, the Padawan collected her Lightsaber before walking out of the cargo hold and back into the central room where Tanis was still working on the communications system. Main power had recently been restored thanks to all of their combined work, as were Sublight engines, although the Hyperdrive was still a no-go, and it appeared that the _Peragus_ survivor was about finished as well, since he was closing up the panel as she approached.

"That should just about do it." He said happily. "Okay, let's see what we got."

For a moment the Padawan was happy about this, since it meant that she would be able to contact Master Vandar… but then again, it also meant that that Tanis was going to find out the truth about his home. There was no stopping him as he immediately set the system to contact _Peragus_ , and of course there was no answer, but then he adjusted the controls, and found a news broadcast similar to the one she had seen right after leaving _Hoth_. Tanis was hopeful when the report began, but then despair slowly spread across his face as details about just how badly the planet had been decimated were described.

" _In what has been described as the worst mining disaster in history._ " The image of the newscaster said as it appeared. " _The planet of Peragus II has been utterly destroyed. A chain reaction, caused by an unknown initiator, ignited the fuel-covered surface of the world, and as a result, half of the surface has been blasted apart, exposing the core below. All mining facilities across the surface, including those on the far side of the planet were melted away during the initial detonation, and the incident happened so quickly that it is not believed that any of the miners managed to escape_."

As Becca feared, there had been no survivors on the surface of the planet, and the announcer was describing how mining operations were being considered on the newly formed asteroid field, when Tanis shut it off. He looked like he was going to say something, but then just hung his head, sniffling and wiping a tear from his eyes as he walked back into the medical bay. She didn't want to leave him alone like this, so she followed him, closing the door behind her after entering, and finding the young man leaning against the wall, crying.

There was no shame in crying at a time like that, since he had just lost everything he ever knew, and all the Padawan could do was try and comfort him. So she walked up to him and gave him a hug, which he gladly returned, squeezing her tightly. The Padawan felt so badly for him, and wanted to let him know that everything was going to be all right, so she took a little bit of Feen's advice, moving more of her body up against his while kissing him on the cheek. Apparently Tanis took this as some kind of a signal, and before she knew it, their lips were mashed together as he lifted her off her feet.

She had forgotten about the part where the Twi'Lek had told her that he would do the rest, and apparently it was true, as he pretty much slammed her down onto the medical bed, still kissing her just as roughly as he joined her on it. This action had taken her completely by surprise, and the more passionate he got, the more nervous she became. She tried to push him back enough to free her lips so that she could tell him that she wasn't ready for something like this, but then he pinned her wrists down, and suddenly she felt more ready.

Well, it appeared that she had taken _all_ of Feen's advice about how to be there for him, after all, with her fears about love and relationships leading to the Dark Side seeming to melt away as she engaged in one of the most forbidden activities that a Jedi of any kind could do. Her fears now shifted to being discovered, but that was easily solved by using the Force to lock the door, since she obviously couldn't reach it. Of course, she found it difficult to concentrate on even the simplest task, and all thoughts of the lock were soon abandoned anyway.

Thankfully no one walked in on them, as that would have made the situation more than a little awkward, but then it became a little awkward anyway once it was over. It had been a pleasant experience for both of them, but as they got dressed, Becca had no idea what she was supposed to do or say. Her Master had once told her that if one did not know what to say, then it was a good time to be silent, so maybe she should just leave. It seemed like as good an idea as any, so she started toward the door, when Tanis grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into his embrace.

"I don't know what to do." She admitted after a quick kiss. "I don't… I don't think we should've done that… I mean… well… I could fall to the Dark Side, or… what if I get in even more trouble with the Order? Tanis, I… I just don't know what to do."

"There's nothing _to_ do, Becca." He replied while holding her. "I want you… I was _us_ to… you know… be together. I really like you, and I want you to be my girl, but if you can't… I'll understand."

She had hoped that he would just agree with her, and that they would just forget about this ever happening at all, but the truth was that she liked him too. There were too many conflicts involved, with her Jedi training, and the chance of her emotions leading her to the Dark Side, but she wanted to be with him as well, especially when he said that he wanted her to be _his girl_. She would have to meditate on this, and maybe get some more advice, just not from Feen… but for now she was there with him, so there was no harm in another kiss.


	18. Chapter 18 Exile

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Eighteen: Exile**

Becca liked Tanis, she really did, but everything was happening so fast in her life right now that she needed some time alone to center herself. He understood that she needed some time to think about things, so they had hugged one more time before the Padawan headed back to her quarters. There she sat on the floor cross-legged, and attempted to focus on nothing, since her Master had taught her that the only way to truly quiet herself was to focus on nothing so that nothing could occupy her thoughts. She was unsuccessful, though. So instead she reached out with her feelings like Navarro had taught her.

The exercise was easier this time, and it gave her something to focus on as she used the Force to move throughout the _Ebon Hawk_. Through this she saw Feen, still working on assembling her droid in the workshop. Becca tried and tried, but she was unable to hear the Twi'Lek's thoughts, so she resigned that Navarro was correct when he told her that different species minds were too different to hear. Next she found Navarro, sitting in the cargo hold, appearing to be meditating like she was, so she approached and tried to hear what he was thinking.

" _Hello, Becca_." His voice said with eyes and mouth closed. " _I'm glad you're practicing_."

Then all sound from him was gone, as if her hearing had been somehow shut off, and then the Sith opened his eyes long enough to wink at her and smile as he literally faded away into nothing. This broke the Padawan's concentration, coming out of the trance with a startled gasp, before getting up and running out of the room. Going as fast as she could down the hall and into the cargo bay, she stopped in her tracks and gasped again when she saw Navarro still sitting there, meditating as he had been before.

"A bit unsettling, isn't it?" The Sith asked as he opened his eyes. "Watching someone fade away from the Force."

"How is that even possible?" Becca asked while sitting down with him. "I knew you couldn't be sensed through the Force, but… when I watched you do it, it was like feeling you die… like you were just… _extinguished_."

Navarro kind of chuckled at this, but the Padawan didn't find it very funny. Was it through the Dark Side that this strange ability came from? And if so, he had already told her that it would come from mastering the listening technique that he had already taught her, so was that of the Dark Side as well?

"Becca, you need to relax." The Sith continued. "This ability does not cause me to die, nor does it require the Dark Side to shroud your perceptions. It's actually an old _Jedi_ technique that is supposed to instill humility and patience by making your own presence so small that no one ever notices you. I can do this enough to hide me from being sensed, but my Master told me that a few _really_ powerful Jedi were even able to hide themselves from physical sight."

He then closed his eyes and seemed to return to his meditation, and Becca took this as the lesson being over for now. The good news was that it had distracted her from thinking about Tanis, but only then did she remember that the _Peragus_ survivor had finished repairing the ship's long range communications. This meant that she would finally be able to contact Master Vandar again, and warn him about Coryn Brower's treachery. So, leaving the Sith to his meditations, Becca moved back into the common room, and set the comm system to contact the Academy on _Dantooine_ like she had done before.

" _Ah, Becca Antilles_." Vandar said as his small form appeared. " _I did not expect to hear from you again after the events on Peragus II were brought to light_."

"Master, I'm sorry that it took so long to contact you." She began. "Our communications were damaged when Coryn Brower… the one who took Master Katrine's body, set off the explosion. She tried to kill us, and I think she's going to the temple on Coruscant to find that Sith Sword."

Instead of replying, the Jedi Master just sighed while hanging his head. It looked like he was going to say something a couple time, but changed his mind at the last moment. The sudden silence was unnerving Becca, but she hoped it was because he was trying to grasp the scope of everything that had been happening.

" _No more, Becca_." He said sadly. " _No more lies. Master Katrine has already contacted us, and showed what really happened on Peragus_."

Separate, smaller images now appeared above the Master's head, and the Padawan gasped as she saw what they were. Each was a recording from the confrontation on Peragus, showing small silent clips of what had been taken from the cameras around the area. The first showed Becca fighting off the resurrected Jedi that Brower had used against her, up until she was joined by Feen and Navarro. The second showed Brower in combat with Navarro, when Becca had leapt out of hiding to attack her and the two of them drove her back. The final one showed Brower escaping in the shuttle, and the others running away before the explosion happened.

" _I am saddened that you have fallen to the Dark Side, Becca." Vandar continued. "Master Katrine's accounts of you and your Sith friend ambushing the Jedi Knights and trying to kill her, match what we saw on the recordings. I watched you strike down the ones who were supposed to bring you back to us, but even your former Master does not understand why you have done this_."

"Master, that is _not_ Katrine Secura!" The Padawan yelled. "Look at her hair, and… and her personality! Coryn Brower killed my Master on _Hoth_ and stole her body so that she could get Navarro's sword for… I don't know what for, but she _did_! Please, Master, you have to believe me, that woman is _evil_! She even told me that you had been planning to send me back to the _Agricorps_ if I didn't improve in six months, to put me off balance!"

Again, Vandar was silent as he looked at her, and without even saying the words, she knew that this was one time when Brower had been telling her the truth. The Council believed that she had no potential as a Jedi, and they were going to… abandon her. Becca wanted to tell the Master about how much she had learned; listening through the Force, and the _Niman_ form, but she didn't, since admitting to taking instruction from a Sith would probably not help her in this situation.

" _I see now, why you fell_." Vandar said sadly. " _You discovered that you had failed to meet the expectations of the Jedi, and then you, in desperation to prove your ability, sought out the Sith. Perhaps you thought, like so many before you, that you could control the darkness and emerge stronger, but then it drove you to betrayal and murder_."

"No, Master, it didn't." Becca argued with her eyes starting to water. "Please, you have to believe me… I haven't fallen to the Dark Side, I…

"You're wasting your time, Becca." Navarro interrupted as he came up from behind and put his hand on her shoulder. "Like all Jedi, he hears, but doesn't listen. I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, Becca, but… they've already judged you."

" _So the Sith reappears_." Vandar said. " _You must be proud of yourself to have so easily corrupted an innocent Padawan with your lies, but in this case you speak the truth… a rarity for the Sith. Becca Antilles, the Council has found you guilty of numerous crimes against both the Jedi Order, and the Republic. You are therefore stripped of your Padawan status, and forbidden from carrying a Lightsaber. You are exiled… a Jedi no longer… I wish you happiness in the path you have chosen… goodbye_."

The transmission was cut off, and Becca just stood there, unable to move, speak, or even think. It was like she were having a bad dream, one where she knew that she was asleep but soon she would wake up and everything would be all right, but she didn't wake up. Managing to close her eyes for several seconds in an effort to do so, she opened them to find that she was still standing there, staring at the deactivated communication system. It had really happened… the Council had exiled her, and now… she was alone.

" _Becca_." Breen's voice called from the cockpit. " _Becca… come to me_."

Not wanting to interfere with his Master's words, Navarro removed his hand from Becca's shoulder, allowing her to kind of blankly turn and walk toward the cockpit. She still kind of felt like none of this was really happening as she moved down the hall and into the small room where the Holocron remained on the seat.

" _I know how frightened you must feel right now_." The Holocron said. " _The Jedi were your whole life, and now they have exiled you as if you were nothing to them, but you are not alone. You have a place here, with us, but I sense you still wish to be a Jedi, so the question is… what are you going to do about it?_ "

"I… I have to clear my name." Becca replied as tears ran down her cheeks. "I have to expose Coryn Brower for what she is, but… I'm not strong enough… I just… I just want things to go back the way they were."

Again hoping that it was somehow all a really bad dream, she closed her eyes tightly, only to start crying more when she opened them to find that she was still there. Still on that ship, her Master killed and body stolen by an impostor, and Becca herself was still an exile.

" _Perhaps they can… eventually_." The Holocron continued. " _I once told you that the greatest Sith are those who were once Jedi, and the same is true in the reverse. The most powerful Jedi throughout history are those who have fallen to the Dark Side and then been redeemed. I offer to show you down these dark paths, and then to guide you back to the Light Side when you are ready… although at that point you may not want to_."

"The Dark Side?" She replied with obvious fear in her voice.

No, she couldn't. She could never fall to the Dark Side, since not only would it go against all of her beliefs, but it would also mean that the Council was correct to exile her. It would probably give her the strength to defeat Brower, with Navarro's help, that is, but where would that leave her?

" _Do not answer just yet, my dear_." The Holocron continued. " _Soon we will arrive at a lonely, isolated place, and there you will face a great challenge. It is that challenge that will decide your path from then on, be it clinging to your Jedi ideals, or accepting me as your Master. The others will try to help you, but in the end you will be alone… and failing to make this choice will result in your death_."


	19. Chapter 19 Outpost in the Void

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Nineteen: Outpost in the Void**

The words of Breen Atroma-Lyn's Holocron echoed through Becca's mind for the next few hours as the final repairs that the crew were capable of performing on their own like this were finished. Main power had been restored for a while now, but the Hyperdrive had been damaged far beyond a simple field-patch. The good news, however, was that the _Ebon Hawk_ was able to move again, be it only at sub-light speeds, but the bad news was that there was nothing outside to show them where to go. No stars, no nebulas, no nothing; it was as if they had dropped out of Hyperspace in the middle of the largest void in the galaxy.

Worse still, the Navicomputer was offline, so there was no way to plot their position even _if_ there was something to guide them with. So the auto-pilot feature was set on a directly forward course, with their partially restored sensors on a constant sweep to pick up literally anything that they could. The rumble of the engines told them that they were moving, but with nothing but blackness outside, it appeared that they were at a standstill. Beyond this, there was nothing that could be done, so they would either find something, or simply keep going for however long it took to reach the end of the void.

So basically it was a waiting game, leaving everyone onboard to find ways to occupy their time. Navarro returned to the cargo hold for meditation while Feen continued to piece together her droid, which was almost completed. Becca decided to return to her quarters for her own attempt at meditation, but the recently exiled Jedi was unsuccessful. So she sat down on the bed, and was thinking more about what the Holocron had told her, when Tanis walked into the room. For a few seconds she tried to say something, and it looked like he had something to say as well, but neither was successful. Eventually she just got up and hugged him, and when his arms went around her in return, she started to feel a tiny bit better.

"I don't know what to do, Tanis." She said as he held her. "I can't beat Coryn Brower on my own… hell, I couldn't even put up a good fight until Navarro came to save me."

"Then keep training with him." The young man replied. "I mean, if the Jedi want to act like that with you, what other choice do you have? Look how much you've already improved with a Lightsaber."

Tanis made a good point; Becca had been rapidly improving in the areas where the Sith had been giving her lessons, but it wasn't that simple. Being someone who wasn't sensitive to the Force, the young man had no idea just how dangerous the lure to the Dark Side was, or how easy it would be for someone like her to start down the dark path. If she completely accepted the Sith or his ancient Master as her teacher, there would likely be no going back. Still… she had heard stories about Sith who had been redeemed and were stronger for it in the way that the Holocron described, but was it worth the risk?

"Tanis, I could _fall_ if I stay here with them." The exile continued quietly. "Right now I can't imagine ever being as twisted and evil as Exar Kun, but that's the most frightening thing about the Dark Side. I could become corrupted without even realizing it, and then I could even hurt _you_."

It looked like he was about to say something back, but instead just kissed her. Thus the conversation was ended, and they spent the next couple hours just sitting there and holding each other, to which Becca had no objection. It was nice to know that there was someone she could run to who _wasn't_ the minion of an ancient Sith Lord, and better still, her mind was starting to calm down enough to where she started to feel tired. In fact, she was just closing her eyes, when the silence was pierced by an alarm going off in the cockpit. Now the exile was excited, since it meant that they had found something, so she and Tanis got up and ran to the front of the ship where the others were already investigating.

"There's something out there, dead ahead." The Twi'Lek said as she checked the controls. "It looks like a ship… no, it's too big… maybe an old outpost of some kind?"

"I don't sense anything." Navarro replied while looking out into the darkness. "If it _is_ a base, it's probably long abandoned, but I can feel a low energy field."

"It could be a reserve power supply." Tanis suggested. "Maybe the place was left in stand-by mode after… whoever left."

Becca was getting more excited, since an outpost meant that they could probably make better repairs to the _Ebon Hawk_ , but then she remembered what the Holocron told her about a deadly trial she would soon go through at a lonely, isolated place. Things didn't get more lonely or isolated than in the middle of a void, so now her feelings of excitement were now getting replaced with dread. It got even worse when their apparent destination came into view, and part of her hoped that they would just pass by, but no… they were headed right for what looked like a docking bay.

"No communications traffic." Feen continued as they approached. "No incoming scans or warning beacons, either. The docking bay doors are open, but we'll have to go out in suits and find a way to re-pressurize it before we can go inside."

It was an old-looking design; a large ring that circled around and was connected to a central cylinder-shaped structure by several support bridges. The outer hull appeared to be in pretty good shape, aside from lack of use and being illuminated only by a few emergency lights that were probably to keep ships from ramming into it in the darkness. The open docking bay they were headed toward was on the outer side of the ring structure, but the place was only three or four times the size of the Republic cruiser that she had taken to _Hoth_ , so it wasn't like they had to walk a long distance to find anything. So the _Ebon Hawk_ casually floated through the open doors, and touched down without incident.

"I wonder what this place is." Becca said.

" _Yes, quite a mystery_." The Holocron spoke. " _And I have no doubt that you and Navarro will enjoy figuring it out_. _The rest of you will stay here_."

"She's right." Navarro added, interrupting the protests that were about to start. "Now that we have a place to land, I need the two of you to keep working on the ship, since there's no guarantee of finding parts here. That, and there's always the chance that we have to leave in a hurry."

There was certainly no arguing with that, given what had been happening to them no matter where they went. Tanis wasn't too happy about staying behind while Becca went into the darkened outpost, but even he was forced to admit that it was smarter for the two engineers to keep at the repairs. That being said, the EV suits needed to be put together and tested before the two of them could go, so Feen had Becca come with her to the storage lockers.

"You know, I've been thinking about your situation." The Twi'Lek said as they walked toward the rear of the ship. "If you _really_ want to go back to the Jedi, you're going to have to do some things that they don't approve of in order to clear your name, so why don't you change it? You know, create a whole new identity for yourself."

Feen went on to explain how this would allow her to go anywhere and do anything required to stop Brower without the Jedi finding out. This would be great since Master Vandar had probably added her name and face to the list of fallen Jedi by now, and the freedom a new identity would bring was tempting. The exile also couldn't help but be intrigued with the idea of being plain ordinary Padawan Becca while in the presence of her Masters, but then being a completely different person when she was on her own. Of course, she was still at risk of falling to the Dark Side no matter what she called herself, and this gave her second thoughts.

"No, I don't think so, Feen." Becca replied as they organized the suit pieces. "Besides, I wouldn't even know what name to use. Well… my middle name is Kreia, but I've never liked it."

"Well, I don't know about that name." Feen said. "But you could be a whole new you; just wear a hood so it's harder to see your face, and dye your hair dark so it's harder for people to recognize you if they see it. You know, maybe braid it or something, just as long as it's not what you normally do."

Becca was already dressing completely different than she used to, so even if she didn't create a new identity for herself, it might be fun to try a different hairstyle and color. Having been a natural blonde her whole life, it was an interesting thought to imagine herself as a brunette, and she kept thinking about this until they were done putting the suits together and testing them. Of course, this whole process had taken a good amount of time, and there had been no sign of Navarro or Tanis, so she wondered what they were doing. Well, she had been learning how to listen to the thoughts of others, so why not take a moment to find Tanis again?

" _How can I prove to him that I really care for Becca_?" She heard Tanis's voice nervously say almost instantly. " _He's not her father, why would he… oh, no… would he really castrate me with his Lightsaber?_ _He's a Sith, he probably would. Please don't hit me!"_

Becca was trying to listen better, but then her concentration was broken as Navarro came into the room with his arm around Tanis like they were friends. The Sith was his calm and casual self, but Tanis looked nervous, and from hearing his thoughts she understood why. The exile was surprised that Navarro would care enough about her to give the young man what everyone had called _the daddy talk_ during her time on _Alderaan_ , but it made her feel good at the same time. Not the part about threatening Tanis with his Lightsaber, but just the feeling that he was willing to protect her in general.

"Ready to go, Becca?" The Sith asked.

"Ready." She replied. "The suits are good to go."

It was a little more difficult to get into the EV suits than she imagined, but once it was on and they made their way to the loading ramp, her nervousness returned. The pressure doors closed behind them as the airlock cycled, and then the ramp lowered, allowing them to slowly walk into the empty docking bay. Aside from a few indicator lights on the floor and walls, everything not illuminated by the _Ebon Hawk's_ exterior lights was completely dark, meaning that they had to rely on their wrist-mounted flashlights. She was doing a slow spin to get an idea of what this place looked like, when she cried out in surprise when Navarro's voice broke the silence.

"Yes, I can hear you." She replied through her comlink.

" _There's no air if you jump out of your suit, Becca_." The Sith said with a smirk. " _Come on, let's see if we can find the way in_."


	20. Chapter 20 Reactivation

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Twenty: Reactivation**

It was easy enough to find the door that led out of the docking bay and into the ring section of the seemingly abandoned outpost, but it was walking that ended up being the most difficult part as they left the Ebon Hawk behind, and entered the dark corridor. There was almost no power going through the facility, and in space, no power meant no gravity, meaning that Becca and Navarro were reliant on the magnetic soles in their boots to keep them from floating around uncontrollably. It took a lot more effort to lift the boots off of the metal floor than she was used to in order to take a step, resulting in a hesitant, almost droid-like trek down the hallway.

" _How is everything out there?_ " Feen's voice asked over the comlink.

" _Boring so far_." Navarro replied. " _Looks like this place hasn't been used in a while, but we'll find out more once we get main power, or at least emergency power back online_."

Silence returned once the transmission ended, and Becca's heavy walk continued until they reached a closed blast door. There was a control box on the wall next to it, and the keypad was illuminated when Navarro opened it, meaning that the door might still be active, although they had no idea what the code was. But instead of guessing, the Sith simply placed his hand on the keypad and closed his eyes. There he stood for more than a minute, remaining completely still except for the movement of his shut eyes under his eyelids, until opening them again while taking a quick breath.

" _I heard alarms_." He said over the comlink. " _Frantic voices… shouting… some kind of emergency evacuation, I think. I saw them sealing doors, and pushing each other to get away from… something… but most importantly…_

Navarro then began pushing buttons on the keypad, and a moment later the red indicator light turned to green. Next a set of spinning yellow lights above the blast door came on, creating a strobe-light kind of illumination of the corridor as Becca felt weight slowly returning to her arms, followed by the rest of her body. This meant that gravity was being restored, hopefully throughout the whole facility, and then some movement caught her eye. Not in front, but when she turned around to look at the _Ebon Hawk_ , the exile noticed that the outer docking bay doors were slowly closing.

" _I'm starting to get power readings_." Feen's voice said as they finished closing. " _So far it's not much more than gravity and a few doors, but... hold on… now I'm reading traces of atmosphere_."

" _I think I just ended some kind of lockdown_." Navarro replied. " _It's strange that it would've been initiated from this panel instead of the bridge or whatever this place uses for a control center. I mean, any idiot could just come along and guess what the code was, right_?"

"Well, this place is pretty isolated." Becca added. "Maybe they… whoever _they_ were, weren't worried about anyone trying to get in. You said they were leaving in a hurry in your vision, so… maybe there was an outbreak or something. Do you think this place was some kind of research facility?"

" _It's possible_." Feen continued. " _Either way, it looks like the doors are about to unlock, and you've got atmosphere, but the heaters are still offline, so you'll have to stay in the suits for now. I can get a basic map of the facility now that there's partial power, but you'll have to go to engineering if you want to get main power, and the heaters working again. You'll also have to go to sickbay and run a Bioscan to make sure that there's no contaminants inside before you take off the suits_."

A few seconds later an alarm sounded, making Becca jump again since it was the first noise to pierce the silence now that there was an atmosphere, and then the blast door slowly slid upward, revealing a junction in the corridor that went left and right. It was nice to not have to use the magnetic boots anymore, making Becca's walk a lot easier, but according to the directions Feen was giving them, the routes to engineering and sickbay divided right there. Both would have to be explored before anything could really be learned about this place, but the exile didn't want to stay there any longer than necessary, since the old facility gave her the creeps, even with emergency lighting now making it a little easier to see through the darkness.

" _We're gonna have to split up, Becca_." Navarro said, making her eyes widen. " _This place is huge, and we'll cover more ground this way_."

"But what if there's something in here." She answered quickly. "We should stay together in case we get, I don't know, attacked."

She knew that she wasn't doing a very good job of hiding the fear she was feeling, but Becca couldn't help it. Not only was this place dark and scarier than anywhere she had ever been before, but again the Holocron's words were echoing in her mind. If what Breen Atroma-Lyn had said to her was true, there was a horrible trial of some kind waiting for her somewhere inside the facility, but right now she didn't want to face it. Everything that had happened since this whole crazy adventure started was overwhelming her, and right now she wanted to cling onto Navarro's arm like a frightened child until they were back on the ship.

" _Get a hold of yourself, Becca_." Navarro said while putting his hands on her shoulders. " _Or do you want me to teach you how to turn that fear into strength_?"

For a moment, only a moment when she looked up into his eyes, she wanted to learn what he offered. She didn't want to be afraid anymore, and now it was as if something deep within the Force, cold and empty, at the very edge of her senses, was urging her forward. It would be so easy to learn the secrets that made Navarro de Liquidis so powerful, and she was certain that she could control it as long as she was careful. After all, her Master was dead and the Jedi had abandoned her, so what was the harm of moving toward the dark and cold…

"No!" She shouted, stepping back beyond his reach. "No, I can't! I won't fall to the Dark Side, I won't!"

With that, the exile turned and ran down the left corridor of the junction. This was the path that would lead her to sickbay down in the lower levels of the central cylinder of the facility, and she knew that the scan had to be ran before they could leave, but for now she just needed to be alone. No longer caring whether or not there was something lurking within the dark corridors, she just kept running, seeking only to be as far away from Navarro and the Dark Side as possible so that she could center herself.

 _Meanwhile, back on the Ebon Hawk…_

Feen Sinya would never in a million years disobey the ancient Holocron's orders for her and Tanis to stay onboard the ship, but that didn't mean that the Twi'Lek was happy about leaving Navarro and Becca to explore the old abandoned space station by themselves. She had grown fond of Becca during the short time that the exile had been with them, but Feen loved Navarro with every fiber of her being. Her heart had belonged to him since the day they met on _Sleheyron_ , when he had cut her chains with his Lightsaber and together they had forced her cruel Hutt Master to eat parts of himself until he died.

This devotion to him caused her to leave the cockpit, and walk back into the workshop, where her nearly completed droid was lying on the floor. During the time that the Ebon Hawk had spent adrift, she had nearly completed the machine's assembly, and in fact, all that remained now was the power cell. Not wanting to leave Navarro and Becca without guidance, the Twi'Lek had Tanis start giving them directions to the two points while she worked. Thankfully, it was easy to install the power cell, and the droid's yellow eyes lit up almost immediately after she closed the panel.

"Diagnostic: HK-02 is fully functional." The black-armored droid said. "Statement: Now resuming original mission."

Feen was delighted that she had assembled the machine correctly, and her plan was to order it to assist Navarro and Becca once the diagnostic was finished on its systems. The part it said about resuming a mission puzzled her, since as far as the Twi'Lek knew, the HK unit had been in storage on _Hoth_ for several years, and she was about to ask what it meant, when her words were stopped as its metal hand suddenly clamped around her throat.

"Statement: Initiating Midi-Chlorian." It continued while beams of light from its eyes passed over her. "Statement: Presence of Midi-Chlorians negative. Request: Master, this unit requires your assistance in locating those with Midi-Chlorians in their blood, for immediate termination."

"I… am… your… Master!" Feen gasped while pulling at its hand. "I… order… you…

Her words were stopped again when the machine's grip tightened, and then it got to its feet, easily lifting the Twi'Lek off the floor to keep her at eye-level with it. Again it repeated its request, and she did what she could to let it know that she refused to help, so the machine released its grip on her throat, allowing her to drop down, only to backhand Feen so hard that she lost consciousness before she even hit the floor.

"Feen?" Tanis called as he rushed into the room. "Feen, I heard a crash, is everything…

Stopping both in words and action when he saw the large black droid standing over the motionless Twi'Lek, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Feen had been attacked by her own droid. Now its yellow eyes slowly turned toward him, and the _Peragus_ survivor had no intention of meeting the same fate, so he grabbed one of Feen's blaster pistols that was on a nearby crate. However, when he started firing, an attachment on the droid's wrist activated what looked like a red Lightsaber blade, and the machine easily blocked each one, finally deflecting the last shot so that it knocked the pistol out of Tanis's hand.

"Greeting: Hello, young Master." HK-02 said as the blade deactivated. "Veiled Threat: I strongly caution you to remain where you are, or I fear that some form of unpleasantness should befall you."

Groaning in pain while holding his injured hand, Tanis didn't move as she droid walked up to him, and then the machine towered over him as it made its scan for Midi-Chlorians in the blood. The lights passed over him several times, confirming that he did not possess the microscopic organisms it was looking for. The young man was about to say something, but didn't have the chance when the machine grabbed his injured hand, and squeezed hard enough for Tanis to scream as he was brought to his knees.

"Let go!" He screamed as bones could be heard cracking. "Please! Please, let me go!"

"Statement: I would be all too happy to release you, Master." HK-02 replied. "Amused Lie: However, my hand will only release its grip on your soft, squishy flesh if you reveal to me the location of one nearby who possesses Midi-Chlorians in their blood."


	21. Chapter 21 Battle on the Catwalks

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Twenty One: Battle on the Catwalks**

" _You should be coming up to one of the main hatches soon_." Tanis's voice said as Navarro kept walking. " _Go through it and across the support bridge to the cylinder section, and then head upward. Engineering is on the very top level_."

"Got it, I see the hatch." The Sith replied. "I'll contact you again when I'm inside the cylinder."

Having decided to give Becca the space she needed, Navarro had taken the other pathway at the junction, and followed Feen's directions until the Twi'Lek said that the _Pergaus_ survivor was going to take over for a while. Personally, he had nothing against the boy, but since Becca was most likely going to be his full Apprentice soon, he felt the need to make sure she was protected. Unlike the Jedi, the Sith had no rules about falling in love, shown by Navarro's relationship with Feen, but that didn't mean that he was going to tolerate someone breaking her heart.

Pulling on the hatch's release handle, the door refused to open, but it soon changed its mind once he used the Force to make it give way. Suddenly he came face to face with a grinning skull that made his eyes widen as he took a step back, and then he realized why the bridge had been sealed. The wall had been sheered open a short distance away, exposing the interior to the darkness of space, and there were long, deep scratches along the floor as if something big had been caught in the suction and tried to claw at the floor for grip before being expelled. The grinning skull before him was wearing a tattered spacesuit, with one hand on the hatch's inner handle, and the other holding something that looked like a detonator.

"How heroic." Navarro said while stepping past the skeleton. "You managed to stop… whatever made those claw marks, and save the outpost. Too bad your helmet broke when you blew the wall."

Pulling his leg back, the Sith kicked the skull, severing it from the rest of the body, and sending it flying out into the darkness of space. Then with the Force and a little effort, the metal wall began to warp and collapse inward until the breech had been closed. Well, at least now he sort of knew what happened to this place, and since the breech had been closed, atmosphere could be restored once main power was brought online. The walk across the bridge was a lonely and boring one, with nothing happening until he reached the far hatch, and passed through into the cylinder section.

"I'm through the bridge." He said while looking around. "Is there a direct path that will take me to engineering? Tanis, is there a direct route to engineering? Tanis… Feen? It's Navarro, are you there?"

" _This is Feen_." The Twi'Lek's voice replied calmly. " _I have lost your position_ , g _ive me your precise location, Navarro_."

There must've been some kind of interference on the bridge that made the _Ebon Hawk_ lose him on sensors, that or the boy didn't tell Feen where he was before she got back to the cockpit. Of course, Navarro didn't know the layout of this place, so he looked around until finding a sign that listed the current deck and section where he was standing.

"I'm on deck 10, section B." The Sith reported. "At the hatch to the support bridge; can you seem me on sensors, Feen?"

" _Yes, Navarro, I have you_." She responded. " _Statement: I will see you soon_."

He was about to ask what was meant by that last part, but then the transmission was cut off, and the ship no longer responded to his calls. First the Sith considered going back to investigate, but on the other hand he was closer to engineering, and the outpost's sensors could likely tell him what happened once he restored power. So he picked up the pace, using the Force to quicken his movements as he searched for either stairs or ladders that would take him all the way up to the top deck where engineering was located.

There was a ladder in another section that took him all the way to the top, and when he climbed out of the shaft, the giant reactor core was right in front of him. This whole place was made up of catwalks, granting access to the reactor, which was suspended above a great shaft that looked deep enough to pass through all of the other decks, probably for discharging the reactor's excess energy safely. There was a control panel on the side of the reactor, so he walked around, and had just started across the catwalk, when his comlink made a noise.

" _Navarro, its Becca_." The exile's voice said. " _I'm in sickbay, at the bottom of the cylinder section, but I can't run a scan without power, and I can't reach the ship_."

"Don't worry about the scan, Becca." Navarro answered as he walked across the catwalk. "It was some kind of creature here that caused the lockdown, but one of the crew managed to space it. I can't raise the ship either, but main power will be back on shortly, and then I'll come down there and get you."

The Sith was pleased that Becca had managed to complete her part of the mission, even though she had been pretty upset, and now it was time to complete his. The control panel was an old, but simplified design, so it was only a matter of minutes before there was a humming sound as the reactor came to life. There was a hissing sound as air began to be pumped into the room, making it safe to breathe by the time all of the lights had flickered on. This meant that he could now remove his suit, and he had just taken off the last part, when Navarro gasped and ducked down as a Lightsaber blade ignited.

The blade passed over him as it sliced through the guardrail, and the Sith activated his own Lightsaber just in time to block two hard overhand swings, each with enough power to drive him backwards, away from the reactor. It took him a second to realize that it was Feen's droid the next time that they locked blades, and then it backhanded him with its free hand, knocking him onto his back. It passed some light beams over him from its eyes before moving to attack again, but Navarro held out his hand, using the Force to send the droid flying, but it did a backwards flip and landed on its feet.

"Statement: Midi-Chlorians detected." The droid said as the Sith got up. "Addendum: Scan suggests _Dark Side_ alignment, and therefore caution is advised."

"You're damn right, it is." Navarro replied while readying his weapon. "Now, what have you done with the others?"

"Recitation: _Stop! Please, stop!_ " The droid screamed in Tanis's voice. " _I don't know anything, please! Please, my hand, you're crushing it_!"

"Mocking query: Is that explanation sufficient, Sith?" HK-02 now said in its own voice. "Proud declaration: The occupants of your vessel were weak, and easily deactivated by this unit. Addendum: Such as you are about to be."

Hearing the black-armored droid admit to attacking the ship and injuring Feen, caused the Dark Side to rally to Navarro's aid. Now focusing all of his hatred on this machine, the Sith did not back down when it came for him, instead answering the mechanical challenge as their blades locked. He then backed off, swinging his blade low so that it cut through almost the entire catwalk, and next leaping over the droid with a front flip when it took a stab at him. Navarro had to bring the blade behind his back to deflect the droid's next swing as they both spun around. Now the duel resumed, with Navarro deflecting or avoiding each of the droid's attacks, before backing off again, in order to make another identical cut through the catwalk.

Once the cut was made, the Sith locked blades with the droid with one hand, while sending lightning into its torso with the other. HK-02 was knocked off its feet, and its weight hitting the catwalk caused the unbroken part near the Lightsaber cuts to break. Both the droid and the piece of catwalk vanished into the darkness below a moment later, and then Navarro pointed at the control panel, causing an alarm to sound as the excess energy from the reactor was discharge in a massive bolt of yellow energy that illuminated the shaft brightly before it faded a moment later.

"How now, droid?!" The Sith demanded while looking down into the darkness. "Go tell whoever programmed you that _Darth Nihilus_ won't be taken down so easily… except you can't… because I just scrapped you… so never mind!"

Deactivating his Lightsaber, and starting back toward the shaft with the ladder, Navarro knew that his next priority was to get back to the ship, and… no… he had told Becca to stay at sickbay, so he needed to go and get her. Then the two of them, together, could head back to the Ebon Hawk in case there were any more surprises waiting for them.

"Becca, we have to go." He said while starting down the ladder. "Start making your way toward the support bridge, and I'll meet you there… Becca, can you hear me? Becca?"

There was only static coming from the comlink now, and it was probably his own fault, since discharging the reactor like that had most likely caused the interference. This meant that he had to go all the way to the bottom of the cylinder in order to find her, and this also gave him a terrible thought. He had just sent that assassin droid down to the bottom of the cylinder, where the blast was supposed to destroy it, but if the thing survived, then Becca would be in trouble since she had Midi-Chlorians in her blood as well.


	22. Chapter 22 Down in Sickbay

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Twenty Two: Down in Sickbay**

Running down the corridors until she ran out of breath, Becca was really upset about feeling the Dark Side call to her like that, but she still had a job to do. It wasn't much, but it gave her something to focus on while she tried to calm down. Feen's voice telling her which ways to turn in order to make her way down to sickbay was better than hearing her own thoughts, so she focused on her words until the voice switched to Tanis just as she was reaching the support bridge on her side. The exile was glad that the _Ebon Hawk's_ communications could choose who could and couldn't hear the ongoing conversations, because she didn't want Navarro to hear how weak she sounded after Tanis asked if she was okay.

"I'm scared, Tanis." She answered quietly. "I think… I think I nearly fell to the Dark Side, and I don't know what to do."

" _Everything will be okay, Becca_." His voice replied. " _When you get back, I'll hold you, and we can talk about… maybe leaving the ship if you don't feel safe here. Once we get to an actual spaceport or planet, I mean. Hold on, I have to give Navarro directions… go across the bridge and head all the way down to medical, and I'll call you again when you get there_."

She had a sudden urge to say _'I love you'_ at that moment, but they had only been in any kind of relationship for a few days, and she didn't want to make things awkward. Talking to him and knowing that he was willing to be there for her, and that he wanted to protect her, made her mind completely move away from the incident with Navarro. She was now even smiling as she opened the hatch to the support bridge on her side of the outpost, and thought about nothing but being in his arms again as she crossed over to the other side.

Aside from being old and out of use, this abandoned outpost was in remarkably good condition, the hatches and support bridge were in perfect working order, no hull breeches, no broken latches, no stuck doors. The directory signs weren't even worn off, allowing her to quickly find the shaft that would let her climb down to the lowest levels. It was a really long climb, but eventually she reached the bottom, and ducked out of the shaft. The place she was now in looked like the lobby of a hospital; there was a reception desk, benches for waiting patients, and most importantly a map that showed her the different wings of sickbay.

Still, there was nothing that she could do while there was no power, so until Navarro got the reactor started, she could do little more than walk down the hall and enter the room where the bio-scanning equipment was located. The exile was about to contact Navarro to let him know where she was, but there was something she needed to do first. The situation in which she currently found herself was beyond her training or abilities, and she needed guidance from someone who _wasn't_ a Sith Lord.

"Master Katrine?" She asked after kneeling down and closing her eyes. "Master Katrine, I know that there is no death, only the Force, and I need you, now more than ever. Please, Master, if you can hear me within the Force, please answer me… I know I wasn't a very good Padawan, but I beg for your guidance now… I'm so scared, Master."

" _Don't be frightened, Becca_." A voice replied. " _You are quite safe… for the moment_."

Opening her eyes and gasping happily at the prospect of hearing her Master's voice again, Becca stopped suddenly as she realized that although the voice was female, it did _not_ sound like Master Katrine. A blueish light was then visible as a blue and white figure slowly materialized in front of her, that of a beautiful woman with long dark hair and wearing a Jedi robe. She smiled at Becca before moving forward and kneeling down with her.

"Who are you?" Becca asked in a whisper.

" _I know you've never seen me, but you should recognize my voice_." The figure replied warmly. " _I am Breen Atroma-Lyn, Dark Lady of the Sith… don't look so surprised, my dear; a Jedi can only sustain this form for a few years, but a ghost of the Sith can last forever_."

This was not what the exile expected a Dark Lord to look like; she was young and pretty, but all the ones that she knew of that were with Exar Kun showed visible signs of having been corrupted by the Dark Side. Of course, Navarro didn't have any of those visible signs either, so were the two of them something different? The Holocron had said something to her about a different kind of training, so maybe it had been telling the truth.

" _I don't often choose to leave the Holocron, dear_." Breen's ghost continued. " _But I thought it best that you and I speak face-to-face. You see, I was serious about a great trial waiting for you here, and there are three possible outcomes. The first is that you fail and are simply killed, but no one wants that. The second is that you somehow rapidly master the Light Side of the Force, which is unlikely, although it would be interesting to see. And the third is that you gain enough power to survive by calling upon the Dark Side_."

Becca was about to ask, or more likely, plead for a way out of this… whatever it was that was coming, but before she could, the ghost of Breen waved while fading away until the room became dark again. Maybe she could run? Yes, maybe she could hurry up and get back to the Ebon Hawk before anything happened, but that would mean that Navarro needed to restore power. She contacted the ship first, but there was no answer for some reason.

"Navarro, its Becca." She said while standing up. "I'm in sickbay, at the bottom of the cylinder section, but I can't run a scan without power, and I can't reach the ship."

" _Don't worry about the scan, Becca_." Navarro's voice replied. _"It was some kind of creature here that caused the lockdown, but one of the crew managed to space it. I can't raise the ship either, but main power will be back on shortly, and then I'll come down there and get you_."

Well, that was easy enough, and soon the lights in sickbay flickered on, and the instruments in her suit soon told her that the atmosphere had bene restored as well, so she got out of the suit. There was no point in running the scan now, so she did as Navarro told her and waited for what felt like hours, until there was a loud metallic crashing sound from somewhere behind the wall. Something was heard moving around back there, and a few second later a maintenance hatch opened, revealing a large black figure just before a blinding electrical discharge happened behind it.

The blast shot the figure across the room, where it crashed through some old observation tables, and the force from the energy that was now crackling through the room knocked Becca off her feet as well. The energy dissipated after a few moments, and the exile was more or less unharmed, so she got to her feet and tried to contact Navarro, but there was no answer. There was also the matter of the figure that had been blasted across the room, and when she moved closer, she saw that it was a droid. It looked remarkably like the one that Feen had been building on the ship. Figuring that the Twi'Lek had completed it and maybe sent it to help them, Becca looked closer, only to gasp in shock and pain when its hand clamped down on her ankle.

"Statement: Midi-Chlorians detected." It said as light beams passed over her body. "Irritated declaration: Finally, a Jedi. Addendum: Now the mission can be resumed."

It then tightened its grip on her ankle before throwing her upward, where she flew a short distance before landing on top of a gurney. The gurney rolled backwards until it hit the wall, causing it to tip over while Becca fell to the floor. She scrambled to her feet while the droid was standing up as well, and then it started forward, only to make a groaning sound as it stumbled sideways into the wall.

"Statement: This unit has taken damage from Sith designated Navarro." It said as it righted itself. "Diagnostic: Sensor acuity reduced by ten percent… secondary motor actuator efficiency reduced by fifteen percent… assassination subroutines offline, switching to standard combat subroutines. Statement: HK-02 is ready to resume primary mission."

"What mission?" Becca asked as it approached. 'Did Feen send you? What caused that explosion that happened just…

Her words became a startled gasp as the droit activated its Lightsaber attachment and swung the red blade at her, slicing the overturned gurney in half as she jumped out of the way. The droid attacked again, but this time the exile activated her blue blade and blocked it, only to be shoved backwards with such force that she was knocked off her -02 didn't let up as it continued slashing and stabbing at her, making Becca have to slide, roll, and crawl out of the way until she was able to get to her feet.

"Intimidating statement: Your connection to the Force barely registers." HK-02 said. "You are weak and feeble; a Jedi Youngling fights better than you do. Unnecessary Addendum: Believe me, I would know from experience."

"We don't need to fight, droid." The exile replied while keeping her blade ready. "But I'm tougher than I look… I've been training with a Sith… the one you said damaged you. So how about we just forget about this and go our separate ways?"

The droid just stood there for a second, and then an attachment on its other arm opened, launching out a metallic cord that pinned her arms down to her sides as it wrapped around her. There was then a winding sound as the cord started to retract, making Becca fall down as it started pulling her in, but she managed to swing her Lightsaber just enough to hit the cord. The droid was knocked off balance as the severed cord quickly retracted, allowing the exile to free herself before getting up and running out of the room.


	23. Chapter 23 The Dark Side

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Twenty Three: The Dark Side**

Rounding the corner and sprinting back toward the maintenance shaft on the far side of the lobby, Becca was only about halfway toward her goal, when she heard the metallic footsteps of HK-02 running after her. Not hesitating, or even looking back, the exile just ran and ran until she reached the open hatch and dropped down so that she could slide into it. She then grabbed the ladder, and was just about to start climbing, when she had to let go as the droid's Lightsaber sliced through the wall and across the ladder rung where her hand had been.

"Mocking query: Where are you running to, Jedi?" The droid asked as the blade withdrew. "Smug statement: I believe that this shaft is out of service."

Next she saw its feet leave the ground, and a second later the red blade stabbed through the shaft wall way up high, much higher than she would be able to jump, even with the Force, so that it was also stabbed through the center of the ladder. The blade then dragged back down, pulverizing every inch of the ladder so that she couldn't escape, so Becca waited until it was just about on top of her, before using the Force to push the droid back as hard as she could.

The blade was pulled back as HK-02 was sent flying backwards, and as it had done with Navarro, the droid did a backflip to land gracefully on its feet. However, this time one of its legs sparked during the landing, making it groan while stumbling backwards, and Becca took this opportunity to escape. Where she was escaping to, she didn't know. All that mattered right now was breaking sight with the droid so that she could find a place to hide, so she turned right, and was running for the next hallway, when a small object flew past her. It stuck to the doorframe, and started beeping, giving the exile barely enough time to dive behind the chairs before it exploded.

She and the chairs were thrown against the wall as the entrance into the next hallway collapsed in a cave-in that consumed part of the deck above them as well. As for the droid, it was just standing there doing an eerie mechanical laugh, but once she started to move, it reactivated its Lightsaber attachment and walked toward her. It was clear to her that, even in the droid's damaged state, she was no match for it in combat, so she needed a plan. The only thing she could think of was Navarro telling her to use what was around her, so concentrating on the Force as much as she could, all of the chairs around her started to shake.

The first one flew at the droid, and it neatly sliced it with its Lightsaber, but it wasn't until the third one flew that she got an idea. The Lightsaber HK-02 was wielding wasn't actually in its hand, but mounted on its wrist with some kind of bracket, so she waited until it was just starting to swing at the fourth chair, and that's when she attacked. The chair was sliced like all the others, but at the same time Becca leapt at the droid while swinging her blade upward, and then sparks flew as the bracket was neatly sliced off. She attacked again as the red weapon flew up into the air, but the machine grabbed her dominant hand with one hand while catching its weapon in the other, and then it started pushing her backwards.

It forced her up against the reception desk so hard that she was made to lean backwards onto it, and an instant later a burning pain made Becca shriek as the droid stabbed its red blade into her leg. Letting go of her own Lightsaber with one hand, the exile knew that she couldn't overpower HK-02, but she still tried to push its wrist back while its other metal hand was covering the one she still had on her weapon.

"Mocking query: Aw, does that hurt, little Jedi?" It asked. "Answer: Yes, of course it does."

It then began to tighten its grip on her hand, slowly crushing down on it and the Lightsaber hilt it held until Becca was screaming again. Her bones could be heard breaking, but the grip still tightened, now crushing the Lightsaber hilt as well until the blue blade shorted out and vanished. For a moment the exile felt like she was going to pass out, but then HK-02 moved the blade in her leg up a little, making Becca shriek again.

"Navarro!" She screamed as the red blade was moved again. "Navarro, help me! Please!"

"Mocking recitation: _Navarro, help me! Please!_ " The droid said in her voice. "Statement: No one is coming to save you, Jedi. You are helpless, and you will die a slow, screaming death."

It moved the blade in her leg up again, making Becca scream even louder, and then she realized that she had been in this situation a number of times before. On _Hoth_ with Kevrap, and on _Peragus_ with Coryn Brower, she had been easily defeated by superior opponents, and then tortured into crying submission until being rescued like some kind of helpless child. And here she was again, on an abandoned outpost, defeated and now being tortured by HK-02, and of course, she was crying and begging for help or mercy that wouldn't come. It was at that moment, catching a brief glimpse of Breen Atroma-Lyn's Force ghost, that she knew what had to be done.

As much as she didn't want to call on the Dark Side, she knew that there was no other choice, and it angered her that the Jedi teachings weren't enough. Of all the battles she had been through recently, the only ones who were made helpless were herself, and her Master. Navarro, Kevrap, Brower, and all the other Sith had never been humiliated in such a way, and she hated herself for it. She hated that she was always weak, and that she hadn't been able to save her Master, and that the Jedi considered her a failure even before her recent exile. There was something cold and empty, at the very edge of her senses, calling to her now… the same thing that she had struggled to resist before… but this time she gave in.

A wave of cold passed through her body while thoughts of anger flooded her mind, and with the wave came strength. A strength that erased the fatigue from her battered body, and soon even the pain coursing through her leg became dulled enough to almost ignore it. Becca hated this machine, and all others like it who used their strength to murder and enslave… but she also hated the Jedi, whose pompous narrowmindedness caused half of her current problems. The hate and rage that was burning inside of her, now seemed to be gathering its power within her uninjured hand, so without even knowing what was going to happen, she moved it away from the droid's wrist, and aimed her fingers at its torso.

The exile was not sure which of them seemed more surprised when lightning erupted from her hand, and although there was a burning sensation in her fingers, HK-02 was getting the worse end of it. The droid let go of its Lightsaber and stumbled backwards, making slurred electronic sounds as the blue energy flowed up and down its body, and then even Becca was not sure what she was doing as she pulled the blade from her leg. Being fully aware of the pain, but ignoring it completely, the exile leapt at the droid, making sparks fly as she neatly severed its arm at the shoulder.

It seemed like the world around her was moving much slower now, which was probably the only reason why she was able to swing the red blade fast enough to slice off its other hand at the elbow when the machine grabbed her throat, and then it was HK-02's turn to be driven backwards when she stabbed the Lightsaber right through its mid-section. Running it backwards until its back hit the wall, she yanked out the blade before making a downward swing that cut through the droid's first leg at the thigh, and the other at the ankle, making the machine fall to the floor.

It was still alive, and made some more distorted sounds as he tried to move toward her again, but with one final stroke of her blade, sparks flew as HK-02's head was sliced off at the neck. The machine stopped moving while its head sailed across the room, and Becca deactivated her new Lightsaber before clipping it onto her belt and taking a deep breath. She had won… the danger was over… and now she was starting to feel sick to her stomach. The rush of power within her body was fading, leaving a cold emptiness in its place, and this feeling upset her so much that she stumbled sideways before falling to her hands and knees and vomiting onto the floor.

She emptied out the entire contents of her stomach, and once that was done, she screamed as the pain in her leg came back full force. The wound was much larger now, having been ripped open during the fight, and she had completely forgotten about her broken hand, which was now hurting again as well. The pain was so great that she almost didn't hear the high-pitch sound coming from the droid's torso… a sound that continued to build up in both volume and intensity, and she didn't have to be an engineer to know that it was some kind of energy buildup, most likely a self-destruct.

There was nothing she could do; the buildup was reaching its maximum, and she wasn't in any condition to get rid of the torso or even crawl away. The Force also seemed to have abandoned her, since she couldn't concentrate enough to do, well, anything at all. In fact, all she could do was stare at it in horror, until the energy buildup was stopped by the stroke of a red Lightsaber passing through the droid's mid-section. The sound faded away, and Becca looked up with tear-filled eyes to see that it was Navarro who now stood over her.

"Becca, are you all right?" He asked while looking around. "Becca… did you do this?"

She tried to say something, but was only able to cry out in agony as some blood spurted from her leg. The Sith then gently picked her up in his arms, and carried her toward the nearby elevator, which opened immediately after he pushed the button. Becca's vision was now getting dark, and her last thought before passing out was how stupid she felt for not even thinking to try the elevators to escape, now that main power had been restored.


	24. Chapter 24 It Begins

**Star Wars: Shadows of the Force**

 **Chapter Twenty Four: It Begins**

As the elevator started moving up, Becca tried her best to relax after such a terrible fight, but that just made her hand and leg hurt even more. She was grateful that Navarro was carrying her, since she might not have made it back to the ship on her own, and then she must've passed out, because when her eyes opened again, she was no longer in his arms, or even inside the facility. She was in the Ebon Hawk's small medical bay, lying on one of the examination beds, while the others were occupied by Feen and Tanis. Both of them had bruises all over their bodies, as well as broken bones, based on what the monitors above them said, but at least they were still alive.

"I didn't tell… it anything." The Twi'Lek said to Navarro, kneeling next to her. "I was trying to help you."

"It's all right, Feen." He whispered before giving her a light kiss. "The droid was obviously a clever trap, and I'll make whoever programmed it pay for hurting you. Now get some rest."

They kissed again before the Sith gave her a sedative, and almost instantly Feen fell asleep. Becca, meanwhile, groaned quietly as she struggled to get up and limp over to where Tanis was lying. It looked like he had taken an even worse beating that the Twi'Lek, but the young man still managed a slight smile when he saw her standing over him. He started to say that he didn't tell HK-02 anything, but the exile interrupted his words by leaning over and kissing him. Even above defeating the machine and surviving the encounter, the thing that made Becca happiest was that the _Peragus_ survivor was alive.

"I love you, Tanis." She found herself blurting out.

Both of them were sore from what happened, but that didn't stop the exile from kissing him and kissing him until Navarro came to treat him. Both Tanis and Feen had received huge amounts of kolto in addition to the Sith using the Force to set their broken bones, and now he needed to be sedated as well so that he could heal. The _Ebon Hawk_ didn't have a kolto tank, and apparently neither did the abandoned facility, so this was the best that could be done for them. Once they were taken care of, Navarro gave Becca the last of their kolto, and she tried not to cry out too loudly when he had to straighten out her crushed fingers to remove the broken Lightsaber hilt that they were wrapped around.

"I'm proud of you, Becca." He said softly while injecting something into her hand to dull the pain. "You scrapped a droid that, as far as I can tell, was designed to kill fully trained Force users, and I will _never_ think of you as a Padawan again. As far as I'm concerned… you're a Jedi Knight… or maybe a Sith Warrior. Either way, you've earned my respect."

"Thank you, Navarro." She replied, making a shaky smile as a tear ran down her cheek. "You have no idea how much that means to me… everyone else thought I was weak, but you… you believed in me, and made me stronger. I… I couldn't have beaten HK-02 without your training, and…

She started to say something else, but got too choked up for the words to form, so Becca just came forward and hugged him instead. Never in all her life did she imagine that she would be hugging a Sith Warrior, let alone becoming more choked up when he returned her embrace, but there she was, doing both. Her heart belonged to Tanis, and she knew that absolutely, but it was different with Navarro. He had saved her life multiple times, protected her, trained her, and most importantly, welcomed her into his group with open arms. The exile was starting to wonder if this was what it was like to have a family… a _real_ family, not like the emotionless judgmental way of life within the _Jedi Order_.

" _Navarro… Becca_." Breen's voice called softly from the cockpit. " _Come to me_."

The kolto was helping her leg, but Becca still needed some help walking, so she leaned heavily on Navarro as the two of them made their way up into the cockpit where the Sith Holocron was sitting in its usual place. Navarro then helped the exile sit down across from it, and he remained standing while they both awaited the device to speak again. If the ghost within the device had not left it and appeared before her, Becca knew that she would never have understood what she needed to do to survive her fight with the droid, so she was willing to sit there patiently for as long as it took for the Holocron to find its words.

" _You have done well, Becca_." Breen's voice said. " _You have studied Navarro's lessons diligently, and just as he once proved himself by facing a Queen Energy Spider, you now wear the Lightsaber of HK-02 on your belt. But before we proceed… kneel before me, Darth Nihilus_."

It surprised Becca when Navarro stepped forward and knelt down before the Holocron, somehow not realizing that he had such a title, but knowing that she should have expected it, since he _was_ a Sith, after all.

" _You have exceeded all my expectations, Lord Nihilus_." Breen's voice continued. " _As a Sith Warrior, your prowess with a Lightsaber is exquisite, as is your understanding and control of the Dark Side of the Force. However, in training Becca, you have proven to me that your current standing is no longer appropriate, and therefore… I am honored to declare you to be a true Lord of the Sith._ "

"Thank you, Master." The newest Sith Lord replied as he stood up. "All I am, I owe to your teachings."

Becca felt a little awkward for being happy for a Sith, especially one who had now joined the ranks of the Jedi's most dangerous enemies, but Navarro was her friend, so she congratulated him just the same. He tried to act casually about it, but the exile could see the pride and increased confidence beaming from his face at achieving such an honor… well, honor for the Sith, anyway.

" _Now, where were we_?" The Holocron asked. " _Ah yes, Becca… tell me, my dear, what are your plans?_ "

"I want to clear my name and return to the Jedi." The exile replied a little nervously. "But I think Feen was right… to do this, I will have to act in ways that the Jedi would never approve of, so I'm going to use a new identity. I'm going to start using my middle name, _Kreia_ , and once I've exposed Coryn Brower and stopped her, I will go back to them as _Becca_ , and no one will ever know the difference."

This seemed like the best way to handle the current situation, since every time she interacted with Coryn Brower, Becca just got into more trouble with the Jedi. She also still needed to figure out why the body stealer needed Navarro's ancient sword so badly, and stop whatever she had plans for it. So far all they had to go on was a set of incomplete coordinates that Feen had decrypted from that datapad that Brower had dropped on _Hoth_ , so it seemed like it would be a long time yet, before she was welcome among the _Jedi Order_ again.

" _An ambitious plan_." Breen's voice said once Becca was finished. " _But whatever you choose to call yourself, Becca or Kreia, you have succeeded in your great trial, and now you wear a red Lightsaber… your Lightsaber… as you should. I hereby declare you a Warrior of the Sith, and from this day forward you shall be known to me as Darth… Traya. The path you choose to take from here is yours to decide, alone, and you are welcome among us either way… but if you wish to continue your training, then Navarro will be your Master_."

"Nothing would please me more than completing your training, Becca." Navarro added. "I will teach you everything I know about the Dark Side, and then if you still wish… my Master can guide you back to the Light. You're one of us now, whatever you decide that your name should be, and if you accept me as your Master, I will give you the strength you need to crush the one who stole Katrine's body."

It was becoming more and more clear to Becca that she was no match for Coryn Brower as she was, and the power that the Dark Side had given her against HK-02 was the only way that she could avenge her Master and clear her name with the Jedi. If she learned the dark secrets that made Navarro so powerful, then she would never be made helpless by anyone ever again, while also being powerful enough to protect Tanis from things such as that droid, instead of him ending up in the medical bay again or worse.

There was such a long and most likely dangerous journey ahead of them, and Breen had promised to guide her back to the Light Side when everything was said and done, so with a deep breath, she turned toward Navarro and made her decision.

"Please teach me, Master." She said as she knelt down.


End file.
